The Journey
by Golden-Dragon-Fire
Summary: Evelyn Lieflin is a half hobbit, half human girl living in The Shire, right next door to a certain Bilbo Baggins of Bag End. When a surprise and chance decision to join him for a delicious supper one night turns into a 'merry gathering', Evelyn finally has the chance to prove herself, and maybe even find love. ThorinxOC, I own nothing except my character!
1. Of Hobbits and Hybrids

_**Hope you guys enjoy the first chapter! R&R would be so appreciated and if you like it, next chapter shall be uploaded!**_

**Chapter 1: Of Hobbits and Hybrids**

Evelyn Lieflin loved her life, which was no understatement. It was bliss to be living peacefully and in prosperity among the humble, merry hobbits of The Shire, even if there was nothing overly exciting to be found anywhere, except perhaps maybe Over the Hill, or Across the Water. It was a cheerful, peaceful place, far away from any danger, a complete mass of emerald green hills, rivers that held sweet, pure water, furry footed folk and tiny hobbit-sized homes built into the hills with little round oak doors and colourful gardens out the front.

Evelyn had resided with the Shire folk since she had been a teenager. Her mother, Ella Hayward, had been a hobbit of The Shire, and her father, Roranth, had been a man of Rohan. Her father had been a naturally born fighter and, after many disagreements and late night arguments with his wife, he had selfishly chosen a dangerous, bloody life on the battlefield as opposed to a quiet, prosperous life in The Shire with his beloved family. The day he had left, he had begged Evelyn's forgiveness for his sudden decision to depart, and had promised to write to her every day. The letters stopped coming ages ago, and Evelyn had long since ceased sitting outside at the crack of dawn to await the arrival of the postman. Evelyn's mother had recovered from her husband's absence after many a night of crying herself to sleep, but did not go a day without missing him and hoping that one day he might come home to her to see their daughter grow up. She passed peacefully into the next realm at the healthy age of 90 years old, never seeing Roranth again. After her passing, she left every single one of her possessions in the care of her one and only daughter. This included the lovely, small house that was situated right next to a Mr Bilbo Baggins.

Evelyn was only a little bit taller than the average hobbit, with shoulder length, curly, auburn hair, deep blue eyes and a kind face adorned with a few freckles. She did not develop extremely hairy feet, just the tough soles and a couple of fair, curly hairs on the top. She was actually glad for this because she wasn't sure if hairy feet suited her much, but the hobbit children loved to tease her about this. Apparently, hairless feet weren't a trend in The Shire.

The majority of the rosy-cheeked hobbit women in The Shire wore pretty dresses with frilly hems and puffy sleeves. After many heated arguments with her mother and a lot of frustration in both parties, Evelyn finally managed to convince her mother that she would have less trouble trying to educate a troll than getting Evelyn to wear a dress, and so her mother resigned to letting her wear pants, boots and t-shirts, which gave her more freedom when she was outside.

Evelyn grew to enjoy the thrill of combat ever since the first time she held her father's weapons when she had barely grew out of her toddler years, under close supervision by both parents of course. Her father taught her how to handle weapons, and she and practised her skills daily in a secluded little spot behind the hill. Over the years, she endured calloused hands, sore muscles, tight joints and many cuts and bruises, and became an extremely capable fighter, and was even able to disarm her expert sword-wielding father every now and then.

Evelyn, since her father's unexpected departure, had grown into a responible young lady. She had become respected and liked by many other hobbits, and had made good friends with Bilbo Baggins, her next door neighbour. As she sat outside her house in the warm light of the sun, sketching a drawing of a flower on a blank piece of parchment in her little leather bound sketchbook, she often thought of how lucky she was to be living in The Shire, where she was safe and sound and content with her life.

Her mother had been praised for her artistic skills many times, and she was glad to see Evelyn inherit something other than the capability to wield a weapon. The drawing contained miniscule lines and such exquisite detail. As she drew, the many tips and lessons her mother gave her on sketching echoed in her mind.

She looked up to her right and smiled, seeing Bilbo Baggins leaning back on the bench outside his hobbit hole, calmly indulging in his favourite hobby of smoking from a wooden pipe. She looked down to continue her drawing, and it was at that moment that Bilbo's voice floated to her ears.

"Good morning," He said suddenly. She opened her mouth to reply to him, but stopped when someone else with a deep, somewhat hoarse voice responded instead.

"What do you mean by saying good morning?" She heard the voice ask. "Do you mean to wish me a good morning, or is it actually a good morning whether I want it to be or not… or that you perhaps feel good on this very particular morning or that this morning is a morning to be good on?" Evelyn could tell he had said that in one breath, and was slightly amazed to hear someone say so much in one breath. She looked up to see a tall man with grey hair and a long beard in a grey cloak and matching pointed hat standing on the pathway outside Bilbo's house. In his hand he clutched a wooden staff. She smiled as she recognized the twinkling eyes and wise face of Gandalf the Grey. You'd think he would have better things to do as the Wandering Wizard, but he frequently sought the company of hobbits for as long as anyone could remember, but he appeared mostly when times of great festivities were occurring to dazzle people with his magnificent fireworks. As far as Evelyn knew, there were no parties occurring anytime soon. In fact, Gandalf had just missed the celebration of Dugbong's one hundred and ninth birthday. Everyone knew old Dugbong was currently the oldest hobbit in The Shire. People would sometimes ask him why he wasn't dead yet and he would just laugh nervously, tug at his collar as if he was hot, and change the subject rather quickly. He was obviously not keen on the topic of the inevitable.

Evelyn pretended to busy herself with her drawing, even though she already had been doing so, as she listened to the conversation between Gandalf and Bilbo.

"Can I help you?" Bilbo asked politely as he took another puff from his pipe.

Gandalf made a low, thoughtful noise. "That remains to be seen I suppose… I am looking for someone to share in an adventure," Evelyn choked back a snigger. Bilbo Baggins going on an adventure? Although, she had to admit, an adventure sounded exciting! Surely the hobbit side of her would say a firm 'no' to the prospect of leaving The Shire, but Evelyn was more like her father, and her insides churned excitedly. But she had to stop herself. She was not being invited or being involved so perhaps it would be better to keep her nose out of trouble.

"… no, you see I don't imagine anyone as far as west of Bree would be interested in any adventures at all. They are nasty, uncommon and dangerous things. They even make you late for dinner!" Evelyn couldn't help a quiet laugh to escape her lips. It was typical of Bilbo to think with his stomach instead of his brain.

The conversation went back and forth for a while, and ended rather abruptly when Bilbo hurriedly said goodbye and jumped inside his house in a rushed fashion, closing the door tightly. She smiled as she heard the click of the door being locked. Gandalf took a quick peep inside the window, shut the gate behind him and walked by Evelyn. He stopped in front of her and turned.

"Hello Gandalf," She greeted him politely. "It is certainly nice to see you again!"

"And you too, my dear! My my, you have certainly grown since I last saw you!" Gandalf said merrily. He bent over and peered at her drawing. "I can see you inherited your mother's gift!"

She smiled. "I guess I did. So what are you doing here in The Shire? Surely there are no parties to be happening soon?"

He chuckled. "No, no I came to have a small chat with your neighbour, Bilbo,"

"Yes, I heard," She said, sounding a bit guilty.

"Yes well, I expected him to be at least a tad interested in my offer, but he is more a Baggins than a Took. But still, I'm sure I'll have him persuaded by morning. Good day to you Miss Lieflin," And with that, Gandalf trudged away before Evelyn could ask him about the proposed adventure. He was a strange fellow, but Evelyn liked him all the same. She stood up and placed her drawing materials and sketchbook inside her house and she went next door, pushing open the gate and knocking on the wooden door of Bilbo's green oak door. She didn't notice the shining mark Gandalf had drawn on the door with his staff.

"There's nobody home!" She heard him yell from inside, his voice slightly higher than normal.

"Bilbo, it's Evelyn!" She called back. Bilbo's face appeared at the window momentarily, and he then opened the door, a look of great relief on his face.

"Oh it's you Evelyn! Thank goodness! I thought that it might be Gandalf come back to badger me!" He said as he stepped outside and gave here quick hug.

"No I'm not Gandalf!" She laughed. "And incidentally, I couldn't help but overhear your little chat before! What was all that talk of adventures?" Evelyn asked.

Bilbo laughed. "You are far too interested in adventures Evelyn! That worries me quite a bit! But I have no idea why Gandalf was asking me about an adventure," Bilbo said.

Evelyn shrugged. "He's a strange fellow, no doubt about it, but then again he does make wonderful fireworks!"

"I enjoy them every year! They are so magical!" Bilbo said, his eyes glazing over slightly as his mind was cast back to the days when he had been a young hobbit, and had chased the dazzling fireworks everywhere just like the other children. The two then had a lovely conversation outside on his little bench, until Evelyn finally decided to be off home, not that she had far to go though.

"Would you like to come over for supper tonight?" Bilbo asked her as she opened the gate and closed it behind her gently.

She turned and smiled. "I would love to come over!"

Bilbo smiled. "Great, well I shall see you here at 6:30 sharp!" And with that, Bilbo retreated inside his house again. Evelyn smiled to herself. Bilbo was such an organized hobbit when it came to things like appointments and gatherings and such.

_**So I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of The Journey. Please rate and review, and get excited for a merry gathering in the chapter!**_


	2. A Merry Gathering

_**So here we are, chapter 2! For those of you who love the dwarves, you might like this chapter! **_

**Chapter 2: A Merry Gathering**

Evelyn changed clothes into her dark pants and brown, figure hugging shirt with a collar tied together with dark brown laces. Fitting on her boots and giving her hair a quick going through with a brush, she ventured next door. Bilbo welcomed her inside warmly, and they immediately set themselves down for a delicious dinner.

After a while of nothing more than the quiet munching of food and the occasional talk, Evelyn leaned back in her chair, patting her full stomach contently, even though there seemed to be no change in her size at all. Bilbo stood up, dug a spatula into the sizzling saucepan that sat over the stove and he scraped another well cooked fish onto a plate and sat down at the table. It was the third fish he had cooked for himself tonight, as hobbits were known for their huge appetites and tendency to consume a lot of food. In fact, most of the hobbits in The Shire were of a rather _round _shape, especially considering that hobbits indulged in seven meals a day, with plenty of snacks in between. Evelyn did not inherit such a huge appetite as such, and only managed to eat one fish and did not mind that Bilbo was still eating.

Bilbo grabbed a slice of lemon from the chopping board behind him and squeezed it between his hand, the sour juices dribbling onto the fish. He stared hungrily at it, eager to gobble it up like he had done with the last two fish, but stopped abruptly as the doorbell chimed loudly and merrily. Evelyn looked behind her, slightly puzzled. Who would be calling at this time of night?

"I'll get it if you like," Evelyn offered, beginning to rise from her chair.

Bilbo stood up hurriedly before she could stand up completely. "No, no, no, that's alright! I'll get it! Just don't eat my fish!" Evelyn smiled and she sat down again.

"I could not eat a single thing, so you don't need to worry!" She called as he went to see who was ringing his bell. Evelyn stood up and wandered aimlessly over to his study. Evelyn knew that Bilbo was not the sort of hobbit to go chasing the ideas of adventures, despite the pretend games he used to play with other children when he was little. But it never ceased to amaze her when she saw the large amount of adventure books piled and stacked on his overflowing shelves and the carefully drawn maps that stacked in precarious piles on the desk and on the floor. She knew him as something of a cartographer, and was actually a bit jealous of how he was able to draw with such precision and steadiness. She could still draw fine, but Bilbo somehow made it seem much easier than Evelyn did.

Evelyn's ears detected loud, clunking footsteps in the hallway, completely unlike the soft padding of the bare feet of a hobbit, so she decided to go and investigate, curiosity getting the better of her. Hobbits didn't wear shoes, and the footsteps belonged to someone wearing sturdy boots. She stopped in her tracks, mouth gaping open slightly like a fish and her eyes wide in shock at the sight before her.

A burly dwarf with a tattooed head and a black beard stood in the house, wearing a dark coloured travelling cloak over a fur vest and metal armour. As he looked around, studying Bilbo's home, Evelyn saw the hilt of a lethal looking axe hanging from his belt. She heard him speak in a deep, thickly accented voice.

"Which way laddie? Is it down here?" He asked as he shrugged off his cloak.

Bilbo frowned. "Is what down where?"

The dwarf turned to look at Bilbo and threw his cloak at him. Bilbo caught out of pure shock. "Supper of course. He said there'd be food, and a whole lot of it!"

"Wait, wait… who said that?" Bilbo asked him, confused out of his poor mind. But he got no response. The dwarf stopped as his eyes rested on Evelyn. He may be a bit of a gruff fellow, but he was not one to forget his manners, especially in the presence of a lady, and a pretty one at that.

He bowed deeply, looking very serious. "Dwalin, at your service milady,"

Evelyn couldn't help a broad smile and a slight rosy patch to appear on her cheeks as she bowed in return. "Evelyn Lieflin at yours," She said politely. Dwalin's mouth curled in a slight smile, and he stomped past Evelyn and saw the fish on the table, still hot and ready to eat.

"Aah, supper!" Dwalin exclaimed. He wasted no time from there, and he sat himself down in what had been Bilbo's chair and began to wolf the fish down faster than a hobbit. Evelyn was too dumbstruck to say anything as Bilbo looked on jealously, his dinner being eaten by someone else. He had been looking forward to eating that fish, and now it was in someone else's stomach.

_A dwarf! A real dwarf, in The Shire! _Evelyn thought to herself excitedly. She had never seen another creature other than a hobbit or a Man, and a dwarf was just too much to handle! She had definitely not expected this. Surely she had been going to eat supper, talk with Bilbo about the happenings in The Shire then go home to her warm and cosy bed. Instead, she had just introduced herself to a dwarf! This night had taken certainly taken a huge turn for the better.

The fish was gone from the plate, head and all, before Evelyn could say a word. The dwarf grumbled in pleasure as he spoke through the last mouthful of fish he was chewing. "Very good this! Is there anymore?"

Bilbo looked slightly flummoxed. "Um… oh yes, here we are!" Bilbo picked up a plate of freshly baked chocolate buns from the window sill. Evelyn smiled to herself as he sneakily picked a bun off the top of the pile for himself before handing the plate to Dwalin. He stuffed a whole bun in his mouth, the flour sprinkled on top of the bun leaving white patches in his beard.

The doorbell rang again suddenly. Bilbo looked in the direction of the door, his eyes widening in bewilderment. Evelyn smiled to herself. _Imagine if it was another dwarf! _Evelyn thought. But it couldn't be. Two dwarves in The Shire would surely be a preposterous idea, but then again, there was one dwarf in The Shire, and that was pretty absurd on its own without the addition of a second of its kind.

Bilbo went to answer the door as Dwalin stood up and went searching for more food, only a few measly scraps left on the tiny plate that was smaller than Dwalin's hand. Evelyn watched him with a slight fascination. It was well known among dwarves that they had keen eyes, and were usually able to locate things quickly when they set their minds to it. He was quick to notice a jar of home baked cookies on the mantelpiece and, without much common sense, stuck his huge, metal gloved hand in it. Dwalin realised his foolishness when he attempted to remove his hand from the jar and found that it would not come off. Evelyn could hear him muttering words in a foreign language as he attempted to prise the jar off his hand. She couldn't help but giggle a bit as he struggled with it. She grabbed his wrist gently, and he ceased his battle with the jar suddenly, his eyes snapping upwards to look at her.

"Hang on, you'll pull your hand off before you get the jar off!" She grabbed a small bar of light blue coloured soap from the sink in the kitchen and went over to Dwalin. He watched her intently as she took his hand and rubbed the soap over the inside edge of the jar and his hand, making it slippery. His hand slid out of the jar, and he flexed his fingers as if he was checking to make sure that they still worked after being stuck in a glass jar.

"Thank you lass," He said, and caught her by surprise by pulling her into a rib-cracking hug. She shrieked, and laughed between wheezing coughs as he dropped her back on her feet. Dwalin looked extremely amused, then went back to his quest to find more food. Obviously embracing others was a sign of great gratitude amongst dwarves. Well, then again it was a sign of gratitude amongst most races, but Evelyn didn't think that hugs involved the breaking of bones.

Evelyn jumped as someone made a loud noise of surprise. She turned and gasped. There, standing in the doorway, _was another dwarf in Bilbo's house_! He was much shorter than Dwalin, with a snow white beard that reached his belt and a kind, wise face like Gandalf's.

"Good evening brother! And to you, milady!" He bowed, his beard nearly touching the floor. "Balin, at your service!"

"Evelyn Lieflin at yours," She said, bowing in return. She wondered if all dwarves were as polite as the two dwarves that were in Bag End at this very moment as Dwalin walked past her, chuckling appreciatively.

"By my beard! You're shorter and wider than last we met, brother!" He exclaimed.

"I will say definitely not shorter, but perhaps wider if anything! But I'm still sharp enough for both of us!" Balin said, and he winked. They both chuckled, and they placed their hands on each other's shoulders in a brotherly fashion. Evelyn jumped in surprise as they suddenly smacked their heads together, a loud clunk emitting from the contact that occurred between their skulls. They did not groan in pain or clutch their heads or curse at each other, but rather laughed as if they had just heard a funny joke.

_It must be a dwarf thing, _Evelyn thought as they performed a more traditional greeting, embracing each other merrily. This night was getting better and better by the second! What next, an elf? She could only hope!

The dwarves then walked past her, and easily tracked down the location of the pantry. It was certainly a sight to behold for the two dwarves, who were rather hungry from their long travels to The Shire. Their eyes gleamed with hunger and delight at the sight of the shelves upon shelves of assorted foods that were stored there, plus three wooden barrels of delicious ale stacked on top of each other. Evelyn recalled from one of her books that dwarves had quite a love for alcohol, especially ale, and the books were proven accurate as Dwalin and Balin wasted no more time in filling up two wooden mugs of ale for each other. Bilbo, whom Evelyn had nearly forgotten, attempted to gain the dwarves' attentions and find out what their purpose was in his house, but they obviously weren't listening as they talked to each other instead, obviously regaling each other with stories of their travels.

Evelyn was getting used to the sound of the doorbell ringing as the chiming bells echoed through the round hallways once again. She went over to Bilbo and tapped him on the shoulder as he stared in slight frustration at the door. She felt like she owed him a favour, even if it wasn't exactly a big one. Answering the door wasn't exactly a favour, but then again, when your house is currently occupied with two hungry dwarves, it is a favour.

"I'll get the door this time, you stay here," She said to him. He nodded appreciatively, obviously preferring to keep an eye on his 'guests'. She walked to the door and pulled the green door open, and her stomach did a few flips as she saw who was on the doorstep this time.

There were _two_ more dwarves standing on the porch! One had blonde hair and braids in his moustache and hair, which looked somewhat comical and cool at the same time. The other didn't even have a beard and just had a growth of dark stubble on his face, but it was hard to not notice that he was just as handsome as the blonde dwarf, with dark hair that came to his shoulders.

The blonde dwarf pushed forward eagerly to introduce himself at the sight of Evelyn's pretty face, the braids in his moustache swinging as he spoke.

"Fili," He began, but was interrupted by the dark haired dwarf, who pushed in front of him with an extremely noticeable eager expression on his face.

"And Kili!" He said enthusiastically. The blonde dwarf pushed him aside.

"At your service!" They said together as they bowed in unison. They had to be brothers, judging from the way they did things the same way, and their names rhymed, so it was very obvious.

"Uh… Evelyn Lieflin at yours!" She said quickly, trying not to forget her manners, and she bowed again. She tried not to blush as the dwarf named Kili winked at her. Bilbo suddenly appeared at Evelyn's side, slightly flustered and curious to see who was at the door. He had been expecting Gandalf every time the doorbell rang, but his face fell slightly in disappointment every time, because he was desperate for an explanation as to why there were dwarves in his house, of all places in Middle Earth.

"Aah, you must be Mr. Boggins!" Kili said, grinning from ear to ear. Evelyn held back a giggle at the sound of Kili's pronunciation of Bilbo's name.

"Nope! You've come to the wrong house, sorry!" He said exasperatedly as he attempted to shut the door in their faces.

Kili shoved it back open with little effort, looking strangely worried. "What? Do you mean that it's been cancelled?"

"No one told us," Fili said, frowning at Bilbo and seemingly confused.

Bilbo was very confused himself! "But nothing has been cancelled!"

Evelyn tried not to giggle for Bilbo's sake as Kili looked comically relieved and invited himself inside, shoving the door wide open. "That's a relief then!" Fili wasted no time in entrusting Bilbo with his assorted weaponry, telling him to be careful with them as 'he had just had them sharpened'.

_Four dwarves in The Shire! _Evelyn would surely faint in excitement soon enough! She wouldn't keep her hopes up, but she certainly did hope that more would come. Dwalin appeared from the pantry.

"Fili, Kili, come on, enough dawdling, give us a hand," He said as he ushered the young dwarves into the dining room. Bilbo followed them.

"We'll need more chairs if we're going to fit everyone in," Balin said.

Bilbo opened his mouth to enquire, but was interrupted by the familiar chiming of the doorbell. It ran with much more vigour that before. Bilbo looked extremely flustered, and a tad angry as he stomped towards the door, throwing Fili's weapons into a corner in frustration.

"There's nobody home! Go away and bother someone else for a change! I have far too many dwarves in my dining room for a start! If this is some nonsense idea of a silly prank, it is in extremely poor taste!" He opened the door quickly, and Evelyn couldn't help a shriek as a mass of dwarves toppled through the doorway, landing in a big heap at Bilbo's feet.

Evelyn giggled as the dwarves argued amongst themselves and tried to get up. It was then that she noticed an unnaturally tall figure standing in the doorway. The figure bent down to peer through the doorway, and she recognized Gandalf, his eyes twinkling in a mischievous way. She couldn't help but smile at him as the dwarves all finally managed to cooperate with each other and stand up. They lined up in an orderly fashion and made their introductions. Evelyn's head was in a whir as she tried to implant in her mind the names Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Oin, Gloin, Dori, Nori and Ori.

She pressed herself against the wall to avoid being trampled as the dwarves quickly stampeded through the hallway to the pantry and helped themselves to the shelves of food, despite Bilbo's protests and attempts to restore order in his home. It was not thought wise to get between a dwarf and food.

The dwarves, however, did not eat straight away, but piled plates of food neatly in their arms and set it all on the dining room table. They quickly set to work on establishing seats for themselves and grabbing plates and piling them with food. Evelyn did not want to miss out on the fun, and she quickly claimed a seat next to Fili and Kili and smiled apologetically at Bilbo, who had realised that there was now barely a single thing left in his pantry. Fili looked extremely smug as he gained Evelyn's attention by engaging her in conversation, ignoring the slightly jealous looks that Kili threw at his brother. Fili and Kili were extreme competitors when it came to women, but because Fili was older, he usually won. Evelyn could tell that they had already developed a quick affection for her, judging from the way they both tried to make her laugh and sometimes touch her 'accidently' on her shoulder, back or head.

Evelyn never thought she would ever see anyone eat more than a hobbit, but then again, dwarves were known to eat a lot as well! There was definite competition to be found between the two races as the rowdy dwarves wolfed down food, roaring with laughter and shouting over each other _at_ each other. They threw food to one another, and Evelyn laughed so much as Fili took it upon himself to step up on the table and find out who wanted something to drink!

Evelyn could hardly believe it. One minute she had been having a quiet, civilised supper with Bilbo Baggins. The next minute, she was right in the midst of a gathering of twelve dwarves! And so she couldn't help but join in with the merry gathering, laughing heartily at their jokes and joining in with their conversations. She forgot all about poor Bilbo amidst the fun she was having.

The dwarves raised their mugs and cheered as one, and an ungodly silence followed as they raised their mugs of ale to their lips and drank greedily, most of the liquid spilling into their beards. Evelyn kept drinking, trying not to show off as she gulped down the whole mug of ale. They cheered for her and then she nearly fell off her chair laughing as Ori let off a monstrous belch. He was small for a dwarf, and she couldn't believe her ears at the loud sound emitting from him!

She excused herself from the table quickly and went to find Bilbo as the dwarves polished off the last of the food and started wandering around the house, starting to get bored and curious to see what a hobbit hole was like. She found him in the kitchen, looking extremely annoyed and clutching the bridge of his nose as if he had a headache. Bofur, Dwalin and Dori sat nearby, mugs in hand and inspecting the tools and implements in Bilbo's kitchen.

"Bother and confusticate these dwarves!" He said to himself angrily.

"Bilbo, what's wrong?" Evelyn asked, concerned for her neighbour and friend.

He laughed a high pitched giggle. "What's the matter?! Oh nothing, apart from the fact that there are dwarves everywhere!"

Evelyn looked slightly offended. "What's going on with you Bilbo? I would think someone like you would be excited to have dwarves as guests in your house! I know I am. I never thought I would ever meet a dwarf, and I've met twelve so far!"

"Well I would be as excited as you, but not when they've eaten all of my food and made a mess of everything!" Bilbo said indignantly.

She shrugged. "If you say so. I'll leave you to your thoughts then,"

Evelyn stood outside the kitchen and leant against the wall. She was genuinely shocked that Bilbo was not as excited as she was. Every time she read a book about dwarves or elves, her heart would ache with longing to see such a person with her own eyes. Her dreams had come true tonight.

She watched as Bilbo emerged from the kitchen, talking to Gandalf in a frustrated fashion.

"… pillaged the pantry! I'm not even going to tell you what they've done in the bathroom! They've all but destroyed the blasted plumbing!" Bilbo said to him. "I just don't understand what they're doing in my house!" He sighed deeply and put his hands on his hips in frustration.

Ori suddenly appeared at Bilbo's side, a plate in his hand. "Excuse me, I am sorry to interrupt. I was just wondering, what should I do with my plate?" He asked politely. Bilbo nearly answered, but his answer turned into protesting as Fili suddenly took it from Ori and threw it across the room to Kili, who threw it into the kitchen into the waiting hands of Bifur, who started scrubbing them furiously with what appeared to be, not a dishcloth, but one of Bilbo's doilies!

"Excuse me, that's my mother's crockery, it's over a hundred years old!" Bilbo cried out. The dwarves roared with laughter. Now enough was enough for him, and he began to rush around his house, trying to restore what little order remained. He wasn't impressed to see Bofur, Dori, Nori and Gloin sitting at the table, banging sets of knives and forks together in a rhythmic pattern.

"Could you please not do that? You'll blunt them!" Bilbo cried out desperately.

The dwarves found this hilarious, of course. "Ooh, do you hear that lads? Bilbo said we'll blunt the knives!" Bofur said to them. Suddenly, as if they had rehearsed it dozens of times, they began to sing merrily:

_Blunt the knives and bend the forks_

_Smash the bottles and burn the corks_

_Chip the glasses and crack the plates_

_That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!_

_Cut the cloth and trail the fat_

_Leaves the bones on the bedroom mat_

_Pour the milk on the pantry floor_

_Splash the wine on every door!_

_Dump the crocks in a boiling bowl_

_Pound them up with a thumping pole_

_When you're finished, if any are whole_

_Send them down the hall to roll!_

None of the things they said in the song actually happened. Not a single dish hit the floor. The dwarves cheered and laughed heartily as they all shouted together, "THAT'S WHAT BILBO BAGGINS HATES!" Evelyn burst out laughing along with the dwarves as she saw the enormous pile of sparkling clean dishes piled up neatly on the dining room table in front of a shocked Bilbo. Raucous laughter filled Bag End, but was all of a sudden quickly silenced as there was a loud booming at the door. Everyone turned in the direction of the door, smiles fading away from their faces to be replaced with serious expressions.

"He is here," Gandalf said solemnly.

_**I hope you enjoy the next chapter, because we all know about the appearance of a certain majestic dwarf next!**_


	3. The Leader of Our Company

_**There is nothing like coming home from school to see all your lovely reviews, thanks guys! Enjoy this chapter, we all know who is arriving *wink, wink***_

**Chapter 3: The Leader of Our Company**

The dwarves gathered in the hallway under a thick blanket of unnatural silence that seemed to be quieter than before when they had been in the dining room drinking ale. Evelyn found herself closest to the green oak door so she decided to take it upon herself to open it, as none of the other dwarves made any inclination that they were going to do it themselves. She looked back at the dwarves as she wrapped her hand on the door handle. They were all staring with some sort of anticipation at the door_. So someone important is here_, Evelyn concluded as she turned the gold painted handle slowly and opened it.

She froze as a thirteenth dwarf stood on the porch, but he was not like any of the others. He was much taller than the average dwarf, with a short, dark beard, a mane of matted dark hair laced with small strands of silver-grey, a short beard and piercing, stormy eyes that seemed to drill into her own, almost scrutinizing her. He stood tall, proud and majestic, wearing a travelling cloak over a fur coat and midnight blue tunic and silver belt. It was is that moment that Evelyn suddenly felt small and insignificant, and she almost found herself lost for words, but she quickly recollected herself and smoothed down her brown shirt hurriedly to make herself look more presentable.

Evelyn quickly bowed. "Evelyn Lieflin at your service!" She stated quickly.

A ghost of a smile appeared on his face as he watched her bow. "At your service also, Miss Lieflin," And he bowed slightly in return. She almost felt that it looked unnatural for him to be bowing. It seemed more appropriate that she should be bowing to him. He stepped inside and untied his travelling cloak.

He turned to Gandalf, and spoke in a deep, velvety voice. "Gandalf, I thought you said this place was easy to find. Lost my way a few times, probably wouldn't have found it if it weren't for the mark on the door,"

Bilbo finally found his words. "There's no mark on my door, it was freshly painted by myself a week ago!"

"There actually is a mark there, I put it there myself," Gandalf said, sounding a tad guilty. "Bilbo Baggins, and dear Evelyn Lieflin, allow me to introduce the leader of our company, Thorin Oakenshield," Bilbo looked extremely intimidated by the muscular dwarf that stood proudly in his house, but Evelyn smiled at him, trying to make a good impression. She was pleased and felt rewarded when Thorin gave her a small smile in return. Her heart fluttered madly.

She finally managed to find her voice and her manners at the same time, trying to shake herself out of the stupor that she had found herself in moments ago. "You must be famished after your journey, Mr Oakenshield. Would you care for something to eat?"

Thorin chuckled. "That would agree with me immensely. You may call me Thorin, if you wish, Miss Lieflin,"

Evelyn smiled, feeling like she had already come onto good terms with him. "Well, you may call me Evelyn, if you wish," She said to him. She could hear a few of the dwarves chuckle knowingly, and she blushed.

She shook her head slightly to get out of her silly daydream and she went into the pantry to scrounge for something for Thorin to eat. She could still feel Thorin's eyes boring into the back of her head as she left the room.

_There has to be something here! The dwarves can't have eaten everything! _Evelyn thought to herself. She seriously doubted finding something, thinking back to when the dwarves had been 'dining', but then she, strangely, found some food tucked away on one of the top shelves, just enough for a generous portion of hot stew.

She lit the stove, cursed quietly when she burnt herself, and started to prepare the food, expertly slicing it, chopping it and scraping it into the pot full of boiling water that sat over the stove, her mind casting back to the days when her mother had taught her how to make a good hot stew. Evelyn had been eager to learn how to cook like her mother, and she longed for the day when all the other hobbits in The Shire would praise her every time she baked, cooked or made something for the whole town to share. That day would come soon, she hoped, as she leant back on the kitchen bench, waiting for the stew to be ready.

She couldn't get Thorin out of her head, for some reason. The way he had stared at her before had been kind of strange, creepy and awesome all at the same time. Evelyn had a very strange feeling about Thorin, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Was he interested in her? Did he actually like her? Did he really hate her, perhaps even _despise_ her? She doubted the latter considering that he had smiled at her, but then again he may have been doing it only to not cause a stir. So many unanswered questions that would probably remain that way forever…

The intoxicating scent of the stew wafted from the bubbling pot, bringing Evelyn out of her daydream and making her stomach gurgle slightly in wanting. She stirred it a few times with the ladle, sprinkled a small handful of herbs onto it, then scooped a good portion of it into a bowl. _Maybe he might like a drink… _Evelyn thought to herself. _After all, what kind of a dwarf wouldn't like a good mug of ale? And he's had a long journey and must be thirsty! _She doubted there actually would be any ale left over, but she was surprised when she managed to find some tucked away in a bottle in a cupboard in the kitchen. Bilbo probably kept it for himself, just in case he ran out. Evelyn pulled the stopper from the bottle and she poured some of the red tinged liquid into one of the remaining mugs. Bowl of stew with a metal spoon in one hand and mug of ale in the other, she went into the dining room.

She was genuinely surprised to see the dwarves sitting in silence at the table, no longer laughing merrily or talking loudly, but listening quietly to Thorin's deep voice with acute attentiveness and extremely solemn expressions. She gently placed the stew and ale in front of Thorin, trying to not disturb or interrupt him. He seemed to be right in his element right now, all attention completely focused on him.

He stopped talking and looked up at her. "Thank you Evelyn," He said to her.

She smiled and bowed slightly. "My pleasure Thorin," Fili and Kili whispered something to each other, and she tried not to blush and resist the urge to throw something at them, namely the ladle that she used to pour the stew into the bowl.

Bombur looked eagerly at the bowl of stew. Of all the dwarves, he ate the most, and never appeared to stop eating. Judging from his size, he adored food more than anything else in the world. She had even seen him cleaning the plates of left overs before they had been thrown all around the house! "Is there any more left over?" He asked.

Bofur dug his elbow into his cousin's fat side. She doubt he would have even felt it through the amount of fat on his body. "You've eaten enough laddie,"

Evelyn tried not to laugh. "Well there's still enough left for one more if you are still hungry, Bombur?"

"You deserve that one lass." Bofur said before his oversized brother could open his mouth. "After all, Bombur is always hungry and he eats more than a dragon, pardon the metaphor," He added the last bit on the end rather quickly when Thorin shot him a look. She smiled in appreciation, not quite catching on to the last bit.

She left the dwarves to their solemn talks and went back into the kitchen. She quickly ate the remaining stew from the pot and returned to the dining room. She quietly regained her seat next to Fili, who edged his chair a tad closer to her. And then came another jealous look from Kili as Evelyn tried to catch on to the conversation. She jumped and shrunk into her seat as the dwarves suddenly started yelling and shouting at each other, not in the jolly way they had been before but in an arguing sense as the room. Then, the room suddenly went dark, the lights dimmed and Gandalf's voice boomed over the yelling dwarves.

"ENOUGH! ENOUGH!" Gandalf shouted. He began to stand up, towering over the dwarves, and the room lit up once more slowly. "You've asked me to find the fourteenth member for the company and I have chosen Mr Baggins. Go ahead and have all the bad luck in the world should you choose to not take my advice!"

Thorin looked defeated, but still annoyed, at Gandalf's words. His gaze then turned on Evelyn. He could see the longing in her eyes, and it troubled him. He never thought he'd meet someone so eager to face the dangers of the world, but at the same time, he admired this girl for her courage, even if it seemed reckless.

"We will have no trouble defeating him! Gandalf is a wizard, he has surely killed hundreds of dragons!" Kili said enthusiastically. Evelyn froze. Did Kili just say 'dragon'? They were going to kill a _dragon_?! She hoped Kili was just using dragons as an example, as she had read of dragons, and there was rarely a goodhearted dragon to walk the earth.

"Well, not hundreds, I suppose," Gandalf said in a modest voice.

"Well how many dragons have you killed?" Dori asked. When Gandalf did not reply and began coughing, smoke from his pipe coming out of his mouth, Dori said again, "Come on, give us a number!" The dwarves began to argue loudly again. Evelyn shrank back in her seat as the arguments grew louder and louder. Poor Bilbo didn't have a clue what to do with 13 arguing dwarves!

Thorin stood up suddenly. "_SHAZARA_!" He roared. This shut them up immediately, and they all sat down, looking slightly ashamed of themselves for acting a tad like children.

"If we have read these signs, do you not think that others would have read them as well?" Thorin said loudly. "The dragon Smaug has not been seen or heard from for sixty years. Many eyes are now trained on the East, assessing, wondering, weighing the risks. Perhaps now the wealth of our people lies completely unprotected," Thorin's voice peaked in volume. "Do we sit back while others claim what is rightfully ours… or do we seize this very chance to TAKE BACK EREBOR!?" Thorin yelled. The dwarves cheered, and Thorin raised his fist in triumph, shouting, "_Du bekar_! _Du bekar_!"

Balin spoke over the cheering in a grave voice. "There is no way into the mountain! The main door is sealed,"

Gandalf chuckled. "There is more than one way into the mountain," And with that, he pulled out from his sleeve a metal key. Thorin stared at it in wonder and amazement.

"How did you come by this key?" Thorin asked him.

"It was passed to me by your grandfather, Thror. I now pass it to its rightful owner," Gandalf handed Thorin the key, who accepted it gently. He stared at it in awe. He placed it on the table carefully.

Evelyn finally found her voice. "So, this adventure you're going on? I assume it's dangerous…?"

"That's an understatement," Kili blurted out.

"Think before you open your mouth Kili!" Thorin spoke sharply. Kili mumbled an apology and looked down at his lap. He had been on the receiving end of his uncle's anger on many occasions when he had been playing pranks with his brother, but he hadn't meant to be so thoughtless now.

Evelyn frowned at Thorin, confused at his sudden outburst and a tad annoyed as well. It hadn't taken her long to become friends with Kili, and felt a sort of protectiveness over him as a friend.

"Take it easy, will you? He didn't mean anything by it, I'm sure," She said to him. Thorin glared at her, but she didn't flinch. She didn't find Thorin so likeable at the moment. "Perhaps you should try controlling that stupid temper of yours, it might get you into deep trouble one day," Thorin stood up in a rush, his chair falling to the floor with a loud clatter.

"Who do you think you are?!" He snapped, jabbing a finger at her.

Evelyn stood up also. "I should ask you the same thing, Thorin Oakenshield!" She spat his name with pure venom. She watched as his hand twitched towards the hilt of his sword. She let out a bark of laughter. "Come on, do you wanna settle this outside? I would only be too happy to do so, as long as the others don't mind you returning in pieces!" Before things could go any further, Gandalf stood up to intervene.

"Enough fighting!" He shouted, the room going dark once again. Both Thorin and Evelyn sat down again reluctantly, both glaring at each other.

Balin spoke. "If I may be so bold as to speak, but it might be a wise idea to offer a place in the company to Miss Lieflin,"

Thorin glared at him. "Absolutely not! She is a woman!"

"And what exactly are you getting at here?" Evelyn said furiously. "I may be a woman, but I can fight just as well as any one of you! If you are offering me a place in your company, I will gladly accept it!"

Balin looked at Thorin in an almost smug way. "Well there you have it laddie. She seems eager enough,"

Thorin opened his mouth to speak, closed it and glared at Evelyn. He sighed deeply. "Fine. Get out another contract then,"

Evelyn looked around and couldn't help notice that most of the dwarves looked considerably more cheerful than before, except for Dwalin, who obviously shared the same views as Thorin. Bilbo unfolded his own contract and began reading to himself in a low voice. She looked down at the long strip of parchment and read it, or rather skimmed over it. There was so much to read, and Evelyn was better off just listening to Bilbo read it to himself. They heard snippets of information as Bilbo paced back and forth.

"… not exceeding one-fourteenth of total profit if any… seems fair I suppose… present company shall not be liable for any injuries… not limited to… laceration…? Evisceration…? _Incineration_?!" Bilbo looked indignantly up at the dwarves, an explanation needed obviously.

Unfortunately, Bofur decided to be the one to explain. "Aye, he'll have the flesh off your bones in the blink of an eye!" Bilbo went strangely pale in the face.

Balin looked slightly concerned. "You alright laddie?"

"Yeah, I just feel a bit faint," Bilbo said weakly, breathing heavily and bending over slightly, hands on knees.

Bofur stood up. "Think furnace with wings!" He offered. "It'll be nothing more a blinding flash of light, searing pain and then poof! You're now nothing more than a small pile of ash!" Bilbo turned even paler, his eyes rolled back in his head a bit, and, down before anybody could react, he fainted, falling to the floor like a tree would topple to the ground after being chopped down.

It didn't take long for someone to help the poor hobbit. Bilbo was revived quickly, and thankfully Gandalf had been the one to do it, as Fili and Kili offered to get a bucket of water and throw it on him! Bilbo managed to climb into his favourite armchair by the fireplace with a cup of tea clutched in his hands. Evelyn was concerned for him, but he waved off her attempts to care for him and reassured her that he was fine, so Evelyn wandered through the house.

She stopped as she saw Fili and Kili hiding in a corner, sniggering mischievously. "What are you doing?" She asked.

They quickly shushed her, then silently pointed to a carefully placed bucket of water suspended over the doorframe by a rope that the brothers had secured in their hands. The first poor person who went through that door would get a bucketful of water on them, and become a victim of their prank. So the two brothers made use of a bucket of water after all.

She shook her head and wandered away, not wanting to get into further trouble, and supressed a laugh as she heard a loud splashing sound, a roar of anger, the sound of running footsteps and Dwalin yelling 'I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU TWO! YOU'RE BOTH DEAD!'. She pressed a hand to her mouth and laughed silently. After she had calmed down a bit, she kept on going through the house, feeling she had the responsibility to make sure that all the dwarves were comfortable. Evelyn stopped just before a corner as Thorin's and Balin's voice floated through the hallway. She ducked down and listened to the conversation.

"… is dangerous Thorin! There are fifteen of us, and most of us haven't seen battle! Tinkers, toymakers, not exactly fighting material," Balin said.

"There are a few warriors amongst us," Thorin said dismissively, obviously not interested in Balin's arguments. "And you're the one who let the girl join the company! You should be less worried about these things and more worried about the fact that we now have another hobbit to look after!"

Evelyn could imagine Balin having a look of surprise on his face as he spoke. "She seemed able enough, and she's not completely hobbit! Even you could have been able to tell that she is not an average hobbit!"

"It does not matter. She is a girl, and she will be a bigger burden than the burglar! Do you realise that it will be up to me to look after her?"

Balin hesitated before speaking in a slightly hushed voice. "I thought you didn't want her to come with us?"

"I don't," Thorin said, far too quickly. "I just don't want to have her death on my conscience!"

"She will be fine Thorin!" Balin said.

Thorin sighed. He sounded defeated. "So be it. I suppose the more the better, even if she is indeed a woman,"

Balin chuckled. "Do I sense you have feelings for her?"

"Of course not. We all have to look after each other," Thorin said gruffly.

Balin sighed. "Well, you know that I will follow you Thorin, to the very end," Evelyn had heard enough, and she quietly tiptoed backwards and left them alone. So Thorin _did _want her along for the journey. He just didn't want to admit it. She felt a bit happier now, and watched as Thorin and Balin went to the living room where the other dwarves had now gathered..

She frowned as she heard a deep humming coming from one of the rooms. She quietly walked in to see the dwarves all huddled around the flickering fireplace, deep in thought. Her heart skipped a beat. For some reason, she recognized the tune that she could hear, but she did not know from where. She felt strange knowing this as Thorin began to sing in a low, haunting voice.

_Far over the misty mountains cold_

_To dungeons deep and caverns old_

Evelyn entered the room cautiously and, without thinking about her actions, her voice joined with Thorin's, her own voice beautiful and silvery:

_We must away, ere break of day_

_To find our long forgotten gold_

The rest of the dwarves stood up slowly and began to sing, their voices combining into one:

_The pines were roaring on the height_

_The winds were moaning in the night_

_The fire was red, it flaming spread_

_The trees like torches blaze with light_

_**For anyone who didn't know, 'shazara' means 'silence', and 'du bekar' means 'to arms' :-)**_


	4. An Early Start

_**Let the adventure (or a new chapter) begin! Added a little bit of humour in for your entertainment, enjoy!**_

**Chapter 4: An Early Start**

Evelyn woke with quite a start, her eyes opening quickly. _It was all a dream, _she thought to herself. She was sad to think this, because there was no adventure for her after all. Besides, it was just not possible that thirteen dwarves had unexpectedly appeared in The Shire and offered her and Bilbo Baggins a place in a dangerous adventure filled with dragons. It was so preposterous, and she couldn't believe that she had managed to dream up something so crazy.

The sun had not risen yet, and the sky was still reasonably dark. She must have fallen asleep sometime earlier and Bilbo must have put her to bed in the spare room. She thought about perhaps sneaking back home into her own bed, but she didn't want to seem rude or ungrateful for Bilbo's hospitality.

Evelyn was still wearing clothes from the night before, but her boots were sitting neatly in the corner of the room. Evelyn sat up and rubbed her sleepy eyes. She rubbed her dry throat, and she decided that she need a drink. Making her decision, she stood up and quietly made her way towards the kitchen. She certainly hoped that she would step on any creaking boards, as she didn't want to wake Bilbo. She had once been a victim of his temper when she had made too much noise once in his house and he had been napping peacefully, and she winced at the experience.

Evelyn's heart froze for a second and she jumped backwards, but she only managed to only let out a small surprised gasp as she trod on someone sleeping on the floor atop a bedroll. It certainly wasn't Bilbo judging by the strange shape of his head. Evelyn peered closely at the figure and her heart leapt with joy, for it was a dwarf! So it had not been a dream after all!

Evelyn whispered a small apology as Bofur grumbled in his sleep and rolled over, his hat still firmly sitting on his head. She stepped over him and went into the kitchen. As she entered the kitchen, she was surprised to see Thorin leaning his hands on the bench, peering out of the window at the night sky, the stars twinkling brightly. He turned his head as one of the wooden floorboards creaked slightly under Evelyn's bare foot. He didn't say anything, nor did the thoughtful expression on his face change. So there were no hostilities between the two for now. That was a start. And besides, Evelyn did not want to start another heated argument with him, she would surely wake up everyone else!

Without speaking a word to him, she went to the sink and found her mug from last night. She filled it up with water and sipped some of it quietly.

"You have much confidence in yourself, Evelyn," Thorin said to her in a low voice. She did not know whether he met that as a compliment or as an insult, so she merely shrugged. It was a neutral response and would not spark any arguments for sure.

"I didn't think I really did. I guess I'm just cocky or something," She said, smiling tentatively at him. She was rewarded with a small one in return. "I'm sorry I yelled at you before. My mother and father used to say that I was too stubborn for my own good,"

Thorin chuckled. "I should be the one apologizing. Technically, I'm the one who started it,"

"Perhaps we should try and control our tempers a bit more," Evelyn suggested.

Thorin nodded. "I may find that difficult, but I shall certainly do my best,"

Evelyn looked outside at the night sky. "Are you homesick?"

Thorin nodded. "I have not stepped foot in my home for many years, not since that blasted dragon took it from me," Evelyn opened her mouth to enquire, but decided to leave it for now.

"Do you have any family Thorin?" Evelyn asked.

He sighed. "My sister Dis is living in the Blue Mountains. My brother's dead, my father and grandfather are dead, so apart from Fili and Kili, I have no one else,"

"I'm sorry to hear that," Evelyn said, feeling slightly embarrassed to have asked such a personal question.

"It's no matter. What about you? Do you have any family nearby?" Thorin asked.

Evelyn looked down at her feet and sighed. "My father left when I was younger and stopped sending me letters, and my mother passed away long ago. I don't have any brothers or sisters,"

"I am sorry," Thorin said.

"It's alright, it happened ages ago, and I have moved on, just like life does," Evelyn said. She yawned, her mouth opening widely and her eyes began to feel heavy. Sleep was coming back to her once more. She set her empty mug on the bench and swayed slightly. "I'd best be getting back to bed. We'll be leaving early, I presume,"

"Sleep well Evelyn," Thorin said to her. She smiled as she walked away.

It seemed as if Evelyn's head had only just touched the pillow and she had only just closed her sleepy eyes when she was being shaken awake by somebody. She opened her eyes a bit. Kili stood over her, his hand shaking her shoulder gently.

"It's time to leave missy," He said, smiling his best smile, complete with twinkling eyes. She rubbed her eyes and sat up, running her fingers through her hair to try and remove the worst of the tangles and knots that had managed to appear there during her short sleep.

"I should probably get used to getting up early," Evelyn said sleepily as she set her bare feet on the cold floor.

Kili shrugged. "Well that's the thing about adventures. If you want to be involved in one, you have to make an effort for it!"

Evelyn giggled a bit. "Well-spoken Kili," She stood up. "Well, I will just quickly go home and gather some belongings to take with me. I can't go on an adventure empty handed I suppose!" She made to leave the room, but stopped when Kili decided to pull her into a gentle hug.

"I'm glad you're coming with us," He said to her.

Evelyn stood in a bit of a stupor for a bit, then awkwardly hugged Kili back. She certainly had not expected this. "Um, I'm glad you think that," She said, smiling. He pulled away, grinned, and left the room. Slightly dazed, she smoothed her top and quietly made her way out of Bilbo's house and next door to her own house. So her suspicions were true, Kili did like her quite a bit. She hoped he didn't like her in _that _sort of way, because she had developed a more brother-sister friendship with him, and she didn't want to spoil that. Oh well, no time to dwell on that now!

_It's true. I'm about to go on an adventure! It's really happening! _Evelyn thought to herself excitedly. It was all like some sort of fantastic dream that would end any minute and it would be back to a slightly boring life in The Shire. But it was definitely no dream. She really was about to do this. She was really about to leave The Shire, just like she had dreamed of doing ever since she had been a little girl.

It was then that she realised that she had no idea what to take with her. Sure she had been camping before in the fields Across the Water with her friends, but she could have easily run back home to grab anything that she had forgotten. The situation she was in was much more complex than that. Anything she would forget would have to stay forgotten. So she would have to be careful and sensible about what to take, and what to leave behind.

Evelyn went to her room and found an old leather bag with a long strap. It was perfect for the things she was planning to take, as even though it looked small, there was space for the things she would need and it never got in her way when she was walking or running around.

She raced around her house, gathering a small portion of clothing, her sketchbook and ink bottles and quills. She also found an old dark coloured jacket. It went down to her knees and was perfect for her. She seemed to remember it once belonged to her father, and she could still detect the faint musky odour that hung about him most of the time. She didn't dwell on this though as she slid her arms into the surprisingly comfortable sleeves.

She went to the wooden chest sitting beside her bed and she opened it, the lid creaking loudly. Memories washed over her as she stared inside at the contents. Inside the chest was the place where she kept her weapons; a bow and quiver of arrows and a set of daggers.

She slung the quiver of arrows over her back and tightened the belt slightly so the arrows wouldn't just slide out of the quiver. The bow was then attached to the quiver. It could be easily detached should the need arise. Then she fixed a thick belt with a small pouch on the side and two sheathes attached to it to her waist. In the sheathes were the two daggers, given to her by her father who had received them as a gift from a friend who, apparently, had been an elf of Rivendell. Evelyn dreamed of meeting the elves one day.

Evelyn took one last look at her home, the home she had been living in ever since she had been born into the world. Yes, she would miss the circular hallways and the warmth of the fireplace at night time. She would miss her books. She gently touched the tiny, wooden figure of a bird in flight hanging from a long leather cord around her neck in thought. Her mother had crafted this for her when she had been little, and refused to give it up since, naming it her good luck charm. Her heart ached terribly knowing that she was going to have to leave a lot of her possessions here to slowly gather dust and become forgotten, and there was a good chance that she might not ever see her home again. But she had an adventure to look forward to. She could already taste the open air, feel the wind on her face and touch the vast lands beyond The Shire. Yes, it was time to leave. It was time to spread her wings and leave the nest.

She shut the door and locked it for what she thought would be the very last time. She tried not to look back and dwell on anything as she closed the gate with gentleness and went back into Bilbo's house. The dwarves all stood in a group, checking their persons for any missing possessions.

They looked up as they took in Evelyn's sudden change in appearance. She could see the surprise in their eyes, and she guessed that none of them had ever seen a woman with as many weapons as she carried right now.

She frowned. "What are you all staring at?"

Naturally, Kili was the first to speak. "I don't think many of us have seen a woman with so many weapons!"

She didn't know whether to take this as an insult or whatever, so she simply shrugged. "Nothing like being prepared for the worst, I guess,"

"Well I think it suits you," Fili piped up, and he winked at her. Kili nudged his brother in the ribs.

Evelyn then opened her bag and pulled out the long strip of parchment that was the contract. It bore her signature in jet black ink. "I signed the contract, just so you know," She gave it to Balin, who pulled out an eyeglass and peered through it, as if to check for any signs of forgery or misconduct on the neatly scribed contract.

He nodded his head in satisfaction and folded the contract up, neatly storing it away. "Well, welcome, Miss Evelyn Lieflin, to the company of Thorin Oakenshield!" He declared. She blushed a bit as a few of them clapped and cheered a bit. She searched inconspicuously for Thorin among the group, and found him standing slightly off to the side from the group. He looked at her, and nodded once. She nodded back at him. Strange, he seemed to make no inclination that he recalled last night, and made no effort to speak to her right there and then. Evelyn still had definitely not forgotten last night, when they had been talking to each other kindly, sharing their past with one another. It had been a somewhat special moment for her, as she rarely shared such things with others, especially people she had known for less than perhaps an hour or two.

"Are you ready to leave, Miss Lieflin?" Thorin asked. _What was with the formalities? _Evelyn wondered to herself. She had recalled last night when he had called her by her first name. Something was certainly different, and she certainly intended to find out what was going on with him, but not right now. Maybe later.

"Whenever you are," She said, attempting a small smile in his direction. He did not return it.

Gandalf squeezed himself through the hallway into the room. "We best be leaving then. It would not be an idea to wait around for the hobbits to start rising from their beds and see us,"

Evelyn frowned. "What about Bilbo?"

Thorin stepped in roughly. "He did not sign the contract, and I have been informed that he declined to join the company. I have no doubt that he will not be accompanying us,"

Evelyn's feelings towards Thorin changed at every second. At one moment, he seemed to be so enticing and something drew her towards him, but then there were moments, like now for instance, where she could barely contain her anger at him because of how uncaring and rude he was. She intended to give him a piece of her mind when she saw Gandalf giving her the kind of look that said '_Don't start anything'_ so she merely kept her mouth shut and gestured towards the door.

"Let us leave then," Evelyn said. The dwarves quietly made their way to the door, boots clunking on the wooden floor and hidden armour clinking together. They filed out into the slightly chilly morning air and took one last look around. This would be something of a final look at peace for a long time, for they knew that where they were going, there was not going to be much peace and tranquillity like what could be found in such a place as The Shire.

And so the journey began, one step at a time. They walked Over the Hill to the edge of The Shire where it was bordered by masses of largely spaced trees. A gathering of ponies stood tethered to a large tree. All of them were different shades of brown and grey and were all shaggy looking, save for one larger animal that was a horse, obviously for Gandalf to ride, who would surely crush a pony underneath him!

Evelyn had ridden a pony a few times in her life, when her father had one grazing in a makeshift paddock near the house. She never forgot the first time she ever rode a pony, and how nervous she had been when she had been lifted into the saddle by her father and led around the paddock at a slow walk. It was a fond memory to her, and she gradually built up her confidence, becoming quite relaxed in the saddle and happy to spend many an hour riding around the fields.

Evelyn never forgot any of her riding lessons as she stepped up to a dark grey pony with a black mane and gently stroked its nose. It snorted and blinked once, its deep black eyes staring into hers. She felt like she had to gain its trust first as her hand ran over the course fur of its neck.

"_A horse will trust you as long as you put your trust in it,"_ Her father had said to her before her first try in the saddle. "_Remember that Evelyn. Trust is the key…"_

"You have quite a way with ponies lass," Bofur commented as he mounted his own pony, his voice cutting into her thoughts. "Aedan seems to like you already," Evelyn smiled as she gently hoisted herself with a slight touch of grace into the leather saddle. The pony shuffled its hooves a bit and bent its head to graze among the patches of green grass, seemingly fine with the current situation.

Evelyn gently urged her pony to walk on and follow the group, who had all settled on their own steed and were already heading off. She decided to ride next to Bofur as the group slowly made its way further and further away from The Shire, bit by bit. She liked the dwarf, with his funny looking hat and funny jokes. He sure did know how to make somebody laugh.

"Betcha four gold pieces that Bilbo will turn up," Bofur said to her.

She scoffed. "You're on," Despite being good friends with Bilbo, she didn't expect him to turn up. He was a Baggins more than a Took. It wasn't that she didn't believe in Bilbo, he was a dear friend of hers and she knew him for quite a while, but she knew that Bilbo loved The Shire more than anything in the world!

Her ears picked up a faint voice on the wind and she looked behind her, her hand clasping the back of the saddle for support. She couldn't believe her eyes as she saw the sight of a familiar hobbit running as fast as his stout legs could go towards the group, a long strip of parchment flying in the wind in his hand and a maroon bag bouncing around on his back.

"Wait! Don't forget about me! I've signed it! I've signed the contract!" Bilbo Baggins cried as he eventually caught up with the company. He thrust the contract triumphantly into Balin's waiting hand and he panted heavily as Balin inspected the contract.

"Very well Mr Baggins, welcome to the company of Thorin Oakenshield!" Balin announced, saying something similar to what he had said to Evelyn last night when she signed the contract.

He smiled as he recognized Evelyn atop her pony. His grin widened, and she laughed at him.  
"And here was me thinking you wouldn't come!" Evelyn said to him, then felt a bit ashamed because she could have woken him up. "I am sorry I didn't wake you up, but I thought you weren't going to come along,"

Bilbo waved off her apology. "I thought so too, but then that Tookish inheritance got the better of me," He said, sounding somewhat proud of his relation to the troublesome Tooks. Evelyn she winced internally as she remembered what she had said to Bofur not long ago. Four gold pieces wasted on a stupid bet. She would have to stay away from Bofur so he would forget. She didn't think this as dishonest. She sure hoped it wouldn't be. Bofur was such a cheerful dwarf, it would be sad to see the smile gone from his moustached face!

"Give him a pony," Thorin said gruffly, as he turned his pony and started walking again. Evelyn laughed as Bilbo's insistent protests were quickly cut off as he was hoisted by Fili and Kili onto the back of a chestnut coloured pony. As far as Evelyn knew, he had no experience in riding horses, let alone ponies, and the way that Bilbo sat gingerly in the saddle with the reins held up in front of his nose

Bofur, who had been riding a few ponies behind her, trotted to her side, a gloved hand held out to her and a smug smile on his face.

"Come on lass, a bet's a bet," He said cheerfully. Luck was most definitely not on her side as she reached into her bag and fished out four gold coins.

She dropped the coins one by one into his waiting hand. "Wipe the smile off your face or you'll be sorry," She said, trying to sound angry but she couldn't keep the smile off her face. Bofur winked, and tucked the coins into the leather pouch on his belt.

"Just remember lass, you took the bet," Bofur pointed out.

"Yeah, whatever," She said, and she stuck her tongue out at him childishly. She looked up ahead at Thorin, leading the group into the unknown. He looked very determined, not speaking at all. Thinking he might like a bit of company during the ride, she urged her pony forward towards the front of the group to ride next to Thorin.

"You looked a bit lonely up front by yourself, so I thought you might like some company, if you like," Evelyn said in a slightly shy manner. He looked at her and smiled, making her heart flutter.

"It would be a pleasure to be in your company," Thorin said.

Evelyn smiled. "But I thought this was _your_ company,"

Thorin chuckled. "So you're a comedian as well. We shall need a few of your jokes along the way,"

She giggled and blushed a bit. "I'm no comedian, trust me,"

Then, from further down the line, Oin, who usually misheard at odd times, shouted out to Evelyn. "You're a comedian, eh? Tell us a joke then!" This was joined by a loud chorus of strong agreements. Dwarves loved jokes, and good ones at that. Evelyn was slightly nervous at this because she rarely told a good joke.

Thorin raised an eyebrow at her. His expression read, _you got yourself into this mess_.

Evelyn sighed. "Alright, fine!" She then searched her mind for any jokes, and decided on a classic. "Why do hobbit homes have round doors?"

The dwarves muttered to themselves for a bit. "Because it looks nice?" Ori called out.

Evelyn laughed. "If you had 9 meals a day, you'd need a round door too!" There was a tiny moment of silence before Evelyn was rewarded with the sound of all the dwarves bursting into raucous laughter. She thought that Bofur would fall off his pony in a minute, and he did. He tumbled to the ground, doubled over in laughter. His pony, sensing the sudden change in weight upon its back, stopped walking and looked behind at its rider in a somewhat confused way. This only made the dwarves laugh even harder. She glanced at Thorin, who was chuckling merrily. She couldn't help it, and she burst into a fit of giggles.

"Tell us another one!" Kili called out hoarsely.

Evelyn opened her mouth to respond, but Thorin cut her off. "No more, or you'll all die of laughter before we reach Erebor," There were a couple of disappointed moans and the company moved off once more as Bofur clambered back into the saddle of his pony.

_**Hope you liked the little joke I added in there. The dwarves liked it! Next up, a little ThorinxEvelyn event occurs, get excited folks!**_


	5. Time to Fight

_**Hey guys, sorry for the delay in the update, I managed to catch a lovely cold for myself, sore throat and headaches, so I have not really been in a writing mood, but here we are, enjoy!**_

**Chapter 5: Time to Fight**

Evelyn had never ridden a pony for longer than perhaps a few hours or less and she had accustomed herself to a slightly sore back and bum, but she had not ridden a pony in quite a long time and a whole day of riding left her a bit more sore than usual.

The company set up camp in the late afternoon near the edge of a cliff when the sun was still up in the cloudless sky. Everyone found their own spot on the ground and relaxed as much as they could on the hard ground. Gloin and Dwalin started a fire quickly with their tinderboxes, and joined the others to settle down for a quick meal before getting some well wanted rest.

Evelyn looked over at Thorin, and as he turned a bit to place his empty bowl on the ground, the hilt of his sword was shown. She stared at the sword, and an idea popped into her head suddenly. She stood up, smoothed her shirt and walked over to him, and tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up at her.

"I want to try something," Evelyn said.

"And what would that be, might I ask?" Thorin asked, his curiosity piqued.

She smiled and spoke to the group without turning away from Thorin. "Could someone be so kind as to lend me their sword?" Fili and Kili were first on the mark and scrambled for their swords as if they were in a race or some sort of competition. Kili was first to the finish line, and he stood up and thrust his sword into her waiting hand.

"Thank you Kili," She said to him. He smiled and went back to sit down. Fili shoved him in envy.

"What are you doing?" Thorin asked. She swung the sword around in her hand and stepped back.

"I want to find out once and for all who is the better fighter. And besides, I'm curious to see how good you are with a sword. But I'll understand if you are too chicken to fight a girl?" He gave her a bemused look, then stood up, pulling his sword from his scabbard.

"If you insist, but I must remind you of what it said in the contract? We won't be liable for sustained injuries," Thorin said teasingly.

Evelyn smiled. "Don't worry about me," She stepped back away from the company, who all turned with deep interest to watch. Some of them laughed a bit, and Fili and Kili (no surprises) bet on who would win.

Thorin was the first to strike, swinging his sword in a huge arc and bringing it down hard. Evelyn met the strike with Kili's blade quickly, both hands grasping the handle tightly and a loud clang ringing in the sky. He could only manage one brief glance of fury at her before she shoved his sword away. They became locked in a furious battle, swords meeting with loud clangs. They appeared to be evenly matched. Evelyn's agility gave her an advantage when she needed to dodge out of a sticky situation, and Thorin's strength gave him a ruthless edge in combat, delivering dangerous blows in her direction. The rest of the company laughed seeing that both were working up quite a sweat battling, and their movements had slowed down just a tad after a bit of time had passed.

Suddenly, Evelyn and Thorin had managed to get past each other's defences, and the swords they wielded rested at each other's throats and their eyes locked on one another's, the sign of submission. But in this case, they had just tied.

The dwarves were flabbergasted for a bit, then applauded. Thorin and Evelyn no longer kept up any pretences of not being tired, and both let out heavy breaths.

"You fight well," Evelyn gasped.

"So do you," Thorin admitted. They withdrew their swords from each other's necks. They returned to the company to a mass of cheering and Evelyn returned Kili's sword, thanking him for the lend. He looked quite smug knowing that his sword now had nearly beaten his uncle in a fight. He could almost name his sword after this moment! Fili certainly looked jealous as he stared at Kili's sword.

Night cast a dark blanket upon Middle Earth as the dwarves settled into their bedrolls to get some sleep. Evelyn had decided to not sleep just yet, and instead set to work filling up her small sketchbook with drawings, all the while listening to Balin as he retold the story of how Thorin had battled and defeated Azog the Defiler at the Battle of Azanulbizar. Balin was a great storyteller, and had no trouble in gaining attention from everyone, who had all woken up at the sound of the story being told. For some, they did not need a reminder of the battle for they had been there themselves as soldiers. For the rest of the company, they had merely heard tales from others. For Bilbo and Evelyn, they had only read such a battle in books, and hearing the story from the mouth of someone who had fought in that battle was something else.

The company finally fell asleep, Balin's story still ringing in their ears and minds. They awoke early, and were quick to pack up the campsite, untie the ponies and head off. The day passed with nothing overly exciting occurring, apart from Evelyn unable to stop staring in utter wonder at the sights that passed them by; vast grasslands and magnificent rocky cliffs with cascading waterfalls roaring over the faces of the cliffs. However, dark clouds were quick to form in the sky, blotting out the sun. Rain poured down onto the company, dampening their moods quite a bit as they were forced to continue on, thoroughly drenched as the rain splattered onto the treacherous, muddy ground.

The rain eventually ceased its battle with the world, but the clouds stayed in the sky for the remainder of the day, and the sun did not show its face, even when Thorin decided that they should make camp at the end of the day. They found themselves camping on a slight incline in a clearing surrounded by thick trees and large boulders. Tall rocky mountains stood close by, and in its shadow stood the charred remnants of a small house. The roof had caved in, most of the chimney had turned to rubble on the ground and green plants had twisted and grown around most of the charred wood that had once made up the walls.

Evelyn gratefully slid off her pony in a slightly less than graceful dismount, and wandered over to the house, curious to see the inside of it and perhaps find out why it was so badly damaged and no longer inhabited. She ducked down behind the doorway as a familiar voice floated into her ears from the inside of the house. And once again she found herself eavesdropping on Thorin, his voice riddled with anger.

"I will not seek advice from them. Why should we ask for help from those who did not help us?" Thorin snarled. Evelyn peeked around the stony corner of the hut and saw Thorin with his back to Evelyn, consulting with Gandalf, obviously angry.  
"We have a map that no one can read, Lord Elrond could be of some help to us!" Gandalf insisted.

Thorin took a step forward. "'Help', you say? Where was 'help' when that blasted dragon took our home from us? Where was 'help' when Orcs attacked Moria? What 'help' came from elves any of those days? None," He spat the last word, putting as much venom into it as possible.

Gandalf was not impressed, and suddenly barged past Thorin. Evelyn quickly ducked behind the wall to hide as Gandalf stomped away, his staff thumping loudly on the grass.

"Where are you going?" Bilbo asked.

"To seek company from the only person who has any common sense in him!" He said as he marched past the group.

Bilbo frowned. "Who's that?"  
"Myself, Mr Baggins!" He said in a frustrated voice as he marched into the trees and disappeared. Evelyn could have sworn she heard him mutter as he left, "… had enough of dwarves to last ten lifetimes…".

Thorin, acting as if the previous conversation had not happened, emerged out of the hut. "Let's get a fire going, shall we?" The dwarves looked pleased at this.

When the sky gradually darkened to mark the end of their second day of travelling, Evelyn felt grateful for a rest. She smiled as she received a reasonable portion of deliciously smelling stew, but winced as she sat down. _It's going to be worse in the morning, _Evelyn thought to herself as she dipped her spoon into the wooden bowl and took a gentle sip of the stew. She must remember to praise Bombur for his excellent cooking later, once she had finished this of course.

A shadow fell over Evelyn and she looked up. Thorin stood before her. "Mind if I sit with you?" He asked.

Evelyn shook her head a bit too eagerly and choked on a bit of stew. "Not at all," She wheezed. She coughed a bit, and received a few pats on the back from Thorin's huge hand for her trouble. "Thanks," She said a bit hoarsely. She managed to clear her throat and sip some more stew without choking again.

"Couldn't have you dying on the second night," Thorin joked.

Evelyn giggled. "Now who's the comedian?"

Thorin smiled and looked into the contents of his bowl. "I'm definitely not as good as you at jokes,"

"Another joke Thorin! You're on a roll!" Evelyn said, laughing. Thorin chuckled, and spooned another mouthful of stew into his mouth.

Evelyn thought back to that moment in The Shire when they had argued. She had hated him. He had been a rude, stuck up idiot. But now, he seemed to be so quiet and kind, which she did not expect from a dwarf like Thorin. He looked like the kind of person who would never laugh, let alone smile, and here he was, sitting next to her at a campfire, laughing at her pathetic jokes. She had been slightly worried that she had done something wrong, for they had not spoken much during the day. However it was, not only because the rain had not given any cause to be cheerful, but because they had been thinking very deeply about each other. Something had clicked that moment when they had been battling each other and they had been so close to each other. She had smelled the musky scent that hung around him, and she had been momentarily lost in his deep eyes, almost hypnotized by his – there were no other words - _attractiveness_.

When Thorin had been battling with her, he had been surprised to have met somebody who could be as good as he was with a blade. Then, when that moment had occurred when they had been so close together with their blades inches away from each other's necks, he had seen the way she had stared into his eyes with her own bright blue eyes. No one had ever looked at him that way. His feelings were so muddled up, and he could not explain the feelings he felt towards her at this moment.

Thorin snapped out of his thoughts and looked up suddenly as the sound of something crashing through the bushes close by sounded out. His hand went for the hilt of his sword, but he lowered his hand as Fili and Kili appeared.

"And what do you think you two are doing? You're supposed to be watching the ponies!" Thorin said, slightly annoyed. _Always getting distracted_, he thought to himself.

Fili and Kili exchanged looks before speaking one word in unison. "Trolls,"

The dwarves all looked alarmed, and Thorin stood up. "How many?"

"Three. They're big ones," Fili said immediately.

"Ugly too," Kili added matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, but all trolls are ugly," Fili pointed out.

"Where are they?" Thorin asked.

"Back that way a bit. They've taken four of the ponies. The burglar is sneaking around freeing them now," Kili said.

Thorin looked angry. "He'll sooner get himself killed before he frees the ponies. Come on everyone, let's go kill some trolls," Evelyn made to stand up, but Thorin pushed her down. "Stay here,"

Evelyn looked defiant as she brushed off his hand and stood up. "You should know that I can fight just as well as you,"

Thorin looked like he was going to make her stay, but she did have a point, remembering how well she had fought against him last night. "If you must," And with him leading, the dwarves trooped as quietly as they could into the forest. As they walked along, they quietly got their weapons ready, drawing swords and grasping axes. Evelyn still was not sure how Ori would hold up in a fight with nothing more than a slingshot for protection, but dwarves were full of surprises. The company spotted a flickering light emitting from the trees in front of them and they ducked down in the bushes. They snuck forward silently, and peered through the undergrowth into a clearing. The sight that their eyes became known to was not pretty.

They could see three monstrous trolls sitting around a huge campfire, grey skinned, wearing huge loincloths, disgustingly ugly and smelling utterly horrible. Evelyn had read about trolls from her books back in The Shire, and the descriptions from the books were very accurate compared to the real thing.

She looked over at Thorin. "I'll find a better spot and provide cover fire," She said. Thorin looked reasonably pleased by this. So he obviously cared about her safety. She winked at everyone, and shrank away into the bushes as quietly as she could, which was very quiet considering hobbits could pass by undetected very easily.

She quickly found a good spot atop a boulder, hidden by a thick branch. She tried not to laugh as Bilbo tried to grab one of the troll's swords and instead received an intimate look up its loincloth when it stood up to scratch its giant behind. It suddenly began sniffing loudly, and reached for the large rag that served as its handkerchief. Instead, he grabbed Bilbo, and he ended up becoming covered in sickly grey mucus.

A small commotion erupted in which Bilbo was dropped to the ground and surrounded by the three trolls. She quickly drew an arrow from her quiver and nocked it, ready to shoot, as one of the trolls grabbed Bilbo and hung him upside down over the large cauldron that was bubbling over the large campfire. She almost let the arrow go when Kili suddenly jumped out into the clearing, slicing at one of the troll's legs, causing it to topple over yelping in pain.

"Drop him!" He yelled.

One of the trolls spoke in a deep voice. "You what?" He said stupidly.

Kili managed a menacing smile as he swung his sword around and grasped it in two hands. "I said… _drop him_," As the troll threw Bilbo at Kili, the dwarves shouted battle cries and leapt into the clearing, weapons slashing at the trolls' legs. Evelyn let go her first arrow, and it smacked one of the trolls square in the back. It roared and turned around stupidly, trying to find the source of the arrow. She let fly another arrow and it hit it in the shoulder. The dwarves used its confusion as an opportunity as they battled the trolls.

Another arrow found its target, but this troll happened to be the smarter one of the group, and quickly found the source of the arrow. It stomped forward, roaring with outrage. With the kind of lightning reflexes she never thought she had, Evelyn ducked under the swiping hand and dived into the clearing. She feared broken bones as she heard a snapping sound. She crumpled on the ground and rolled on her side. She jumped to her feet as quickly as she could. Thankfully, but unfortunately, the snapping sound she had heard had not been the breaking of bones, but had been the sound of her bow snapping in half on a jagged rock. However, she had no time to mourn for her broken bow. The troll turned around and lunged. Evelyn quickly drew her daggers and slashed at the hand. It roared and clutched its hand as it began to bleed profusely.

Evelyn ran from the troll, dropped her daggers on the ground and sought out a different weapon. She snatched a burning log from the fire and, with all the strength she had, she threw it at the troll. Her aim had been a tad off because of the weight of the log, and the burning end hit the troll square in its ugly face. Evelyn hadn't actually meant to do this, knowing it would only get madder, and it was mad right now.

Seeing as the troll was, thankfully, now distracted, she ran towards the group to help everyone, grabbing her daggers along the way. As she joined the throng, she couldn't help but marvel at the strength of the dwarves. They all worked together so well, coordinating their movements with such precision and danger.

Everyone had grouped together, and suddenly ceased their battles. She looked up to see poor Bilbo with his arms and legs held stretched out in the air by two of the trolls.

"Throw down your arms, or we'll snap off his," One of the trolls growled. Evelyn recognized it as the one she threw the burning log at. It had a few nasty burns on its face to prove it. The dwarves looked extremely reluctant and outraged at the sudden turn of events, but threw down their weapons in a huff. Evelyn stepped back into the crowd of dwarves and quietly hid her daggers in small pockets in the lining of her jacket.

With the kind of skill Evelyn never thought she would see in a bunch of half-witted trolls, they managed to restrain the struggling and defiant dwarves and hobbit into a sack. Evelyn put up more of a fight, and drew her daggers once more.

"Just try, see what you'll get," Evelyn said in a daring voice. She could see Thorin watching her intently. She felt like the dwarves were her audience. She had to do this right.

"Oh come on, let's just cook this one right now. She's too much trouble," One of the trolls complained. It made a grab for her, but she dodged and cut the palm of its hand. It howled.

"She's too quick!" They cried out as they all dived in, trying to catch her. She ducked, dodged and swerved around each clumsy swipe and grab. Suddenly, one of the trolls swiped at her, and hit her. She went flying and smacked into a tree. She fell to the ground and wheezed, all the breath from her lungs gone out of her.

"Let's save her for later, she's not going anywhere anytime soon," The troll with the burnt face said dismissively. The trolls turned away and began to tie a few of the dwarves to a wooden log. They were placed over the fire and the troll started to turn the log like a spit. The dwarves yelled protests.

Evelyn gulped the air, trying to get her breath back. She sat up a bit, and watched as Bilbo tried to reason with the trolls.

"THE DAWN WILL TAKE ALL OF YOU!" A loud voice boomed. Evelyn gasped as she saw Gandalf standing grandly atop the boulder she had been shooting from.

"Who's that?" The troll with the burnt face wondered.

"Can we eat him too?" Another troll said. There was an ear-splitting crack as Gandalf brought his staff down upon the rock. An enormous chunk of the boulder split from it and fell to the ground. Sunlight streamed through the gap that had been created. The trolls only managed a yell of surprise and pain before they became completely still, and they turned to stone.

Evelyn's breath returned to her lungs, and she managed to stand up, her back throbbing with pain as the dwarves cheered for Gandalf. She tried to hide her discomfort as she ran to the dwarves, helping Gandalf to remove the sacks that were restraining them.

Thorin wriggled out of his restraints and walked straight over to Gandalf. "Where did you go off to?"

"To look ahead," Gandalf said matter-of-factly.

Thorin smiled slightly. "So what brought you back then?"

"Looking behind me," Gandalf replied. He then peered up at the trolls. "They could not have moved in daylight,"

"There must be somewhere they hid during daytime," Thorin said.

"Like a cave?" Evelyn offered helpfully.

Gandalf nodded. "Exactly like a cave Evelyn. We'd best go and find it, just to make sure there isn't any more of them. I would rather not encounter one of these horrendous creatures again," Thorin nodded and gestured to the group to follow him and Gandalf. As the company headed back to the campsite, Thorin looked at Evelyn.

"That was a hell of a risk you took back there. You could have gotten yourself killed," He said to her roughly.

"Well, I had a troll coming at me, what else did you expect me to do? Introduce myself then invite it for a cup of tea by a campfire?" Evelyn said defensively.

Despite his slight anger towards her, he chuckled a bit. "You are a very brave girl Evelyn. But you need to be more careful. The last thing I want to see is you getting hurt,"

Evelyn was stunned into silence by what he had just said. Before she could even think about replying, he increased his walking pace and left her to walk alone.

_**Well I hope you liked the ThorinxEvelyn interaction at the beginning of the chapter. Maybe not quite what you guys might have been expecting but it would probably stuff up the story if they kissed or something XD**_


	6. Wizards and Warg Riders

_**Hey guys, once again I apologize for the delay in the update, my cold is really messing with me. A special thanks to Persephone Muse for kindly wishing me to get well soon!**_

**Chapter 6: Wizards and Warg Riders**

Unfortunately for the reasonably tired company, there was no time to rest, and so they were forced to pack up their things and go and find the troll cave. Their bedrolls tempted them when they got back to the campsite, but they packed them up all the same. Gandalf seemed to know where he was going more than the others, and he was the one to lead the way this time instead of Thorin. They went deeper into the trees, getting closer and closer to the tall mountains before them.

Evelyn stumbled over a tree root, and Thorin clasped his hands around her arms, steadying her and preventing her from falling over.

She looked back at him and smiled. "You can't save me every time I'm clumsy, you know,"

He smiled. "I can try, can't I?"

"Stubborn dwarf," She retorted. He chuckled, but did not retort back. Quite suddenly, a blast of warm air and a horrifying stench reached their nostrils from the trees in front of them. Troll caves often stank worse than the trolls themselves because of all the food they left there to rot and congeal, so the company knew they were getting close. The stench got worse as they appeared in front of the gaping mouth of the cave entrance, masses of flies buzzing around and bones littered here and there.

Evelyn sat down on a rock, woozy from the overwhelming stench and a bit pale in the face.

Thorin rested a hand on her back. Her stomach did flips, but it wasn't because of the smell coming from the cave.

"Stay here with the burglar, you'd be better off staying out here than going in there," Thorin said to her gently. Evelyn nodded and closed her eyes, trying not to talk in case she vomited instead. The dwarves reluctantly braved the horrible stench and did their best to keep their latest meal in their stomachs as they entered the cave, swatting at the masses of annoying flies buzzing around everywhere and wincing every time their boots crunched on top of the bones that littered the floor. More than likely, the bones belonged to any small creatures that ended up in a troll's cooking cauldron, but they couldn't help but wonder if the bones belonged to any innocent people who had unfortunately come too close to the trolls.

As they traversed further into the dark cave, they came across something quite different to bones and flies. Small wooden chests were piled along the walls of the cave, shining pieces of gold and silver and expensive looking items overflowing from the chests and glittering on the floor. A couple of the dwarves even set to work on burying some of the treasure as a 'long-term deposit'. Dwalin rolled his eyes when he heard this.

The cob-webbed weapons that were sitting in a barrel on the other side of the cave caught Thorin's watchful eyes and he made a beeline for them immediately. Gandalf followed, obviously intrigued by the weapons as well. Thorin grabbed two of them out of the barrel and handed one to Gandalf for inspection.

"These were not made by any dwarves," Thorin said, his mind cast back to the days when he had been a blacksmith after Smaug took Erebor.

Gandalf ran his hand over the sheathed blade. "Nor were they made by a blacksmith among Men," He inspected the blade a bit longer, and drew a conclusion. "These were forged in Gondolin, by the High Elves," At these words, Thorin looked very apprehensive and made to put the weapons back. "You could not wish for a finer blade!" Gandalf said sharply. Sometimes Thorin's prejudiced opinions against the Elves clouded his judgement, and Gandalf had to be the one to set his mind right, for who else would if not him?

Obviously reluctant to arm himself with a sword made by his worst enemy, Thorin unsheathed the sword, seemingly scrutinizing the intricate runes on the shining blade. Even if it was an Elvish blade, it would have to do.

Thorin sheathed the sword and attached it to his belt. "Let's move on. There's nothing else to find here," He said to the dwarves. All too happy to remove themselves from the disgusting cave, they stumbled out into the reasonably fresh air, some even letting out huge breaths of air for they had been holding their breath most of the time they had been in there.

Gandalf approached Evelyn, who was looking a lot less pale now that she had rested, and held out something for her. It was a bow, a beautifully crafted, dark red bow with silver vines decorating it. She was speechless as she took the bow and tested the string. It was sturdy, and would make for a good weapon.

"It was crafted by the High Elves. It will serve you well," Gandalf said to her.

"Thanks Gandalf," She beamed at him. Then she looked slightly downcast. "I broke my father's bow when we were fighting the trolls. I hope he isn't angry at me,"

Gandalf patted her on the back. "I'm sure he is quite proud of you Evelyn. Think of all the good things you have done!" He smiled, his eyes twinkling. He left Evelyn to ponder over his words, and walked over to Bilbo and handed him something. Evelyn peered around Gandalf's tattered robes and saw Bilbo holding a short sword. She could not imagine Bilbo handling a weapon, but then again she didn't imagine Bilbo would even come on this adventure in the first place. Bilbo had proven her wrong on many occasions, and she made a mental note to herself to not underestimate the hobbit. After all, he was a Took almost as much as he was a Baggins.

Suddenly, the dwarves begin to band together, shouting as the sound of something big approaching the group floated into their ears.

"What's going on?" She asked, slightly panicking.

"Something's coming!" Dwalin yelled. The dwarves drew their weapons and prepared themselves. They were, however, not prepared for what came crashing through the bushes ahead.

A wooden sleigh being pulled by oversized, brown rabbits came crashing into their sights. The sleigh was towing a figure wearing a brown hat and brown, holey and worn robes. His crazy, flyaway grey hair stuck out at odd angles and was matted with a white crackly substance which Evelyn took to be bird droppings. The sides of his hat stuck out at odd angles, giving him the appearance of a strange looking rabbit, and he carried a staff, like Gandalf. He could only be a wizard.

"Thieves, murderers!" The figure cried out as the rabbits skidded to a halt.

Gandalf looked relieved, and held his hand out to the dwarves in a motion to lower their weapons. "Radagast! Am I ever glad to see you!" Gandalf said as the wizard hopped off his sleigh.

"Something has happened Gandalf!" Radagast said hurriedly, twisting the patched fabric of his brown cloak between his slightly withered anxiously. He made to speak, then stopped as if he had forgotten. "Oh, I've lost it now, it was right there on the tip of my tongue," Then he stopped, looking surprised. "Oh! It's not lost at all!" He opened his mouth and pulled out a tiny, stick thin wriggling creature that had been sitting contently on his tongue and dropped it into his gloved palm. "It's just a little stick insect!"

Evelyn giggled. "He's a bit eccentric, isn't he?" She whispered to Bilbo as Radagast tucked the stick insect into his robes gently.

He nodded in agreement. "I would say 'mad', perhaps!" He whispered back. The two wizards then went away from the group and consulted with each other quietly. Evelyn was at least somewhat comforted knowing that it would be folly to eavesdrop on wizards. And besides, she decided to try and cut down on it. It would get her into trouble, for sure. Evelyn was content to observe them from a distance anyway. She then frowned as she saw Radagast pass a thin object wrapped in cloth and bound with thin rope to Gandalf. She did not see what was in the cloth, he blocked her view.

Bilbo moved away from Evelyn and started talking to Balin, so she decided to walk over to Thorin.

"You had quite a control over your stomach, I see," Thorin said to her, noting how quickly she had overcome the momentary sickness from the stench of the troll cave. Evelyn wasn't sure if he was teasing her, considering he had not felt at all woozy in the slightest, but it sure sounded like he was.

"Well, that cave stank something horrible, and I don't think I have ever smelled something so disgusting, so I'll thank you to not contradict me," Evelyn said, although she smiled at the end to let Thorin know that she took no offence.

"I was not contradicting you, I was stating a mere fact!" Thorin said defensively.

"'Mere fact'?" Evelyn repeated, and she shoved him as hard as she could in a playful way. He barely budged. Nearby, Fili and Kili sniggered and whispered behind their hands in each other's ears. She made a mental note to hit them sometime later on.

She heard a menacing, loud growling sound, and she suddenly was pushed by Thorin to the side and onto the ground as a huge wolf like creature leapt into the clearing, snarling viciously. The dwarves were quick to act, diving towards the creature and stabbing it with their swords until it moved no longer. Evelyn cried out in warning as a second creature bounded into the group. Kili quickly shot an arrow at the beast, and it stumbled to the ground and was quickly dispatched by a deathly blow from Thorin's new sword.

"Warg scouts!" Gandalf exclaimed in disgust as he prodded the large head of one of the dead creature with his staff. "There will be more where this one came from ," He then turned to Thorin. "Who did you tell of our quest?"

"No one!" Thorin said.

"Who did you tell?!" Gandalf said angrily.

"No one, I swear!" Thorin retorted defensively. "What in Durin's name is going on?"

"You're being hunted is what!" Gandalf said as his eyes searched the woodlands for any more of the foul creatures. "We need to move before more come. Get the ponies together!"

"We have no ponies, they've run off!" Ori cried out fearfully from atop the hill that the Warg had just appeared from.

Radagast stepped forward boldly. "I'll draw them off!" He said bravely.

Gandalf looked astounded at this. "These are Gundabad Wargs, they will outrun you!"

He pointed to his rabbit drawn sleigh with his thumb. "These are Rhosgobel rabbits!" Then he added with a slight smirk, "I'd like to see them try,"

Gandalf looked reluctant to let his fellow wizard friend risk his life for theirs, but Radagast was just as stubborn as a dwarf. He turned to the others.

"Let's move, now!" He cried. The company were quick to move away from the troll cave and further into the forest.

* * *

Wailing, bone-chilling howls erupted through the forest as the Wargs patrolled the edge of the forest, waiting for their scout to return. The Orcs that sat astride a few of the creatures watched carefully for signs of the Dwarf-scum they had been precariously hunting. Their master had commanded them to do whatever it took to hunt them down. They preferred to keep their lives to losing theirs to their master, who had a fierce and short temper.

They didn't expect to see a wizard being towed by a sleigh of furry, brown rabbits appear out of the forest, speeding away across the grasslands. The Wargs immediately gave chase, their huge paws thudding on the ground and barking ferociously as their prey continued to evade them skilfully. Once they caught the wizard, the Orcs would find out where the Dwarf-scum were, then behead the wizard with savage pleasure. And the rabbits would make a good meal for their hungry Wargs. But no matter how hard they tried, the wizard dodged and evaded every move they made to impair him. He even managed to remove a few of the Orcs from the chase, which only angered the creatures further. They would not be humiliated by a scrawny little wizard.

Meanwhile, the company had snuck out of the forest and were running across the plains, dodging out of sight behind boulders whenever they could when Radagast crossed their paths. Evelyn had a horrible stich in her side, but she would not become a burden on the others, who struggled enough without her needing their help. She grimaced and kept on forcing her legs to carry her further and further, trying to block out the annoying pain. Radagast crossed past in front of them again, and the company quickly dodged to the side, pressing themselves against a large boulder to hide. They dared not make a sound as an Orc astride a Warg broke off from the chase to search the plains. The Warg and its rider had smelled the familiar odour of Dwarvish blood, and had come to investigate. Thorin's eyes darted at Kili, then his bow, telling him silently to bring it down. The young dwarf drew an arrow from his quiver, a grim expression on his face, as he knew that he was being counted on to not muck up. He stepped forward and turned, firing the arrow. His aim stayed true and the red feathered arrow found its mark in the Warg's side.

With more noise than they expected and wanted, the Warg tumbled to the ground yelping in pain, and the Orc screeched loudly and attempted to draw its weapon. Dwalin and Gloin were quick to dispense with the ugly creature before it could alert the enemy to their whereabouts, but they knew that the game was up. The Orcs knew where they were now, and they were coming for them.

"Hurry, quickly," Gandalf cried. They followed him as quickly as possible as they ran further across the vast plains. It seemed as if Gandalf was looking for something, because he kept glancing over his shoulder and looking at each and every rock they passed as if they would suddenly find a hidden entrance to a safe place.

"We're surrounded!" Fili shouted to the group. It was true, there were Wargs everywhere.

Thorin drew his new Elvish sword, the blade shining bright in the sun with a hint of sapphire blue. "Everyone hold your ground!"

"Where's Gandalf?" Fili cried. It was then that they noticed he had disappeared into thin air.

"He's abandoned us!" Dwalin shouted to them. Always assuming the worst.

Evelyn's stomach tight with nervousness, she drew an arrow from her quiver and nocked it to her new bow. Without waiting for an order, she fired it. True to Gandalf's word, the bow was brilliant, and the arrow shot forward, spearing an Orc in the head. It toppled off the Warg it had been riding. Thorin stared at her momentarily, his face adorned with admiration for her skills.

Suddenly, a familiar voice shouted out from nearby. "This way, you fools!" Gandalf cried. Everyone turned in the direction his voice had come from and saw him standing in the shadow of a huge boulder. He ducked down and became strangely hidden, which would have been quite a feat considering his height.

The dwarves did not hesitate to follow Gandalf, and ran to the boulder. There was a steep, small slide that trailed down under the boulder, and the dwarves quickly slid down. Thorin stood by the entrance, cutting down any Orcs that came to close and making sure that everyone got in safely. Kili jumped down in a hurry after his brother, and Thorin quickly did a headcount, and realised with a shock that Evelyn was not among the others. He saw her standing a little while away from the boulder, firing arrow after arrow with as much pinpoint precision as she could muster.

"EVELYN!" He shouted out to her. "RUN!" She turned her head at the sound of his voice, realised that lingering would not be a wise option. She dropped her bow to the ground and quickly pulled out her daggers as an Orc urged its Warg towards her, giving her no time to shoot it. She dived out of the way of the Warg's jaws and slashed at its furry body, befouling the ground with its blood. The Orc tumbled off its mount and screeched loudly. It drew its sword and lunged forward. Evelyn fought off her assailant as best as she could, ending its pitiful life by beheading the thing. Its head toppled to the ground along with its body, dark blood spurting out of its neck. Seizing the moment, she grabbed her bow and sprinted as fast as she could towards the safety of the boulder, but she would not escape unscathed.

Evelyn cried out loudly in pain and stumbled as an arrow from one of the Orc's crossbows found its mark deep in her hip, tearing her shirt as well. She gritted her teeth, broke off most of the shaft of the jet black arrow, threw it away and ran on, limping immensely, scarlet blood seeping out of the wound and staining her shirt. Thorin grabbed her around the waist, pulled her into his body and slid down under the ground to meet the rest of the company, Evelyn pressed against his chest. He skidded his feet on the ground to slow their descent.

"You're reckless, you know that?" Thorin growled in her ear.

She smiled weakly. "And proud of it,"

**_Only a tiny cliffhanger for you guys, but I'll try not to leave you hanging, as long as I can stop coughing long enough to write a proper story! And thanks for the lovely reviews, brings a smile to my face everytime!_**


	7. The Homely House of Healing

_**Hey guys, I am pleased to announce that Gandalf dropped by earlier and gave me some special tonic so now my cold is slowly going away to bother someone else (probably my brother's girlfriend because she reported catching a cold today)! So hopefully, I shall be updating more frequently now, unless I suffer from any unfortunate bouts of writer's block. But anyway, let the seventh chapter commence!**_

**Chapter 7: The Homely House of Healing**

Evelyn made to stand up and cried out in pain as she was rewarded with a sharp stabbing pain in her hip. "Damn all Orcs to the deepest, fiery pits of Hell," She cursed angrily as she sat back down again.

Kili looked slightly aghast. "Ladies shouldn't curse, you know!"

"Oh, you'd be surprised at the amount of cursing I can do," Evelyn replied through gritted teeth. A small part of the arrow plus the spearhead still remained imbedded in her side, but she did not dare to pull it out just in case she lost more precious blood.

The company was cornered down there. They knew that any second the Orcs would come find them. But they never came. Instead, the company heard a loud horn sound out from above and the drumming sound of many hooves approaching. The whistling of arrows being fired from bows sounded out, and the Orcs screeched loudly, and the company scrambled back quickly as an Orc tumbled down into their hiding spot. They made no move towards it, as they could see that it was dead as an arrow was impaled in its chest. Thorin moved forward and pulled the arrow out, examining it. It was jet black, but strangely shiny and tipped with silver feathers.

"Elves," He snarled in disgust, throwing the arrow away at the wall of the cave in anger. He made a point to glare at Gandalf, who, unlike himself, had no qualms about conspiring with the Elves.

Dwalin had ventured down the tunnel a bit to see what lay ahead, and returned. "I can't see where the passage leads! Do we follow it or not?"

"Follow it of course!" Bofur replied anxiously, eager to get as far away from the Orcs as possible, and was quick to lead the group through the tight passageway. Evelyn winced as she stood up and tried not to touch the wound.

Thorin looked concerned for her wellbeing. "Are you well enough to walk?"

She managed a slightly lopsided smile. "Well it didn't hit my leg, which is a good thing. Yes, I think I'll be alright to walk," And so, she took a deep breath, blocked out the stinging pain and she followed the rest of the company through the passage. She had to turn to walk sideways as the walls came uncomfortably close together, providing little space to pass through and giving her slight breathing problems. Bilbo was the only one who was able to make it through the passage easily, taking into consideration his size. Ahead of them , sunlight streamed through the end of the passageway, and everyone was speechless, including Thorin, as they all exited the passageway and they stopped and stared at the grand sight that lay before them.

They stood on the edge of a rocky mountain pass that opened up into a huge valley. Cascading sheets of water fell in numerous spots on the face of the mountains into the depths of the bottom of the valley, where a network of water twisted through into the distance like snakes. But what drew their attention the most was the huge array of grand looking houses and intricately built structures hugging the other side of the mountain, accessible from the other side only by a bridge connected to a small courtyard. Everyone knew this place from the books they had read. Even Thorin knew what place that they had – unfortunately he thought – stumbled upon.

"The valley of Imladris," Gandalf said grandly from the back of the group. "But in the Common Tongue, it is known by another name,"

"Rivendell," Bilbo breathed. Despite his slight distaste for adventures, it had been a lifelong dream of his to see the grand halls of Rivendell with his own eyes, and those who lived there even more so. He almost felt like he was in a dream, but he was not. He was going to see the Elves soon, and he could barely contain his excitement. On the other hand, Thorin was a lot less impressed than Bilbo to be so close to the people he called his enemy, and immediately confronted Gandalf over this matter.

"This was your plan all along, wasn't it? To seek refuge with our enemy," Thorin growled angrily, staring up at Gandalf with his piercing gaze.

"You have no enemies to be found here Thorin Oakenshield," Gandalf said to him in a slightly dismissive tone. "The only ill-will to be found in this valley is that which you bring yourself!"

"Do you think the elves would give our little quest their blessings? They will try to stop us, mark my words," Thorin spat.

Gandalf looked slightly affronted and bewildered. "Of course they will! But we have many questions that need answers!" Thorin sighed, looking slightly defeated. There was no point in arguing with a wizard, even if you happened to be an extremely stubborn dwarf. They were here now, and there was no point in turning back, and it would be too difficult to climb up that slide anyway.

Thorin cast his eyes back at Rivendell, then back at Gandalf. "If we must, we must then,"

"We must. And remember this: if we are to succeed, we will need to handle the situation with tact and a great deal of respect, and perhaps no small degree of charm," Gandalf said. Then added on the end, "Which is why the talking shall be left to me," Thorin made no objection, but was obviously not too impressed about asking for help from elves.

The dwarves trudged down the mountain pass towards the bridge that led into Rivendell. Evelyn bluntly but kindly refused Thorin's offer to carry her down the pass because of her recently sustained injury.

"I do not wish to become a burden on you," She had said to him kindly. So she endured the sharp pain that spiked through her body from the wound. When she needed to, Bofur offered his shoulder for support, which she mostly refused because she did not wish to make trouble for him.

The company carefully crossed the bridge, Bilbo lagging behind and staring wondrously up at the beautiful surroundings. _I must be in a dream, _Bilbo thought to himself. He couldn't help but hope that they would take their time here and not leave so soon. There was so much to see here and so much to learn about the grand race of people that resided there. You could learn so much about a completely different race of people when you were there to see them for yourself instead of read about them in a book.

The company gathered in the centre of the small courtyard, slightly unsure as to what to do next. There were two guards blocking a stairwell that led up to the main halls. They were motionless, wearing maroon armour and clutching spears, and they had no expressions on their face whatsoever. They were like statues, and Evelyn wondered if they ever actually moved at all.

Thorin whispered something to Dwalin, his hands resting on the blade of his axe, the handle resting on the ground. He was obviously prepared for the worst should it arise. Evelyn, who had been unconsciously leaning on Bofur, patted him on the back as a thank you and limped towards Thorin. The pain had now spread to her leg, causing her limp. She wasn't sure if she was imagining it, but she thought the pain was getting worse.

"You're alright, aren't you?" Evelyn asked him as she arrived by his side. "I mean, I know you're not pleased being here, but you'll be okay with everything, yeah?" She felt an exciting sensation in her heart and stomach as he rubbed her back and smiled at her.

"As fine as I'll ever be in the home of the elves, I suppose. If it makes you feel any better, I'll try to not kill anyone while we stay here," He said reassuringly.

Evelyn giggled. "Well you must be fine if you're telling jokes again. Killing people may not be wise, so yes it would make me feel better," He chuckled and, with the kind of gentleness she had rarely seen from Thorin, he snaked his arm around her back and pulled her closer to him, keeping her supported and safe at the same time.

Thorin did not entirely seem aware of his actions, but he felt better knowing she was safe, under his protection. But yes, he felt responsible for the lives of his entire company. He would do anything to see them all safely return home. It was his duty as leader, and as future king of Erebor.

But there was something special about Evelyn. He had remembered back to the day when he had first met her, and thought of her as nothing more than a stupid girl who thought she was brave enough to go adventuring great distances away from her home. But he saw much of himself in her. She was stubborn, brave and willing to fight for her friends to whatever end, just like himself. An entirely new feeling blossomed inside him, a feeling he had never experienced in his whole life, not even back before Smaug's attack on the Lonely Mountain. This feeling was almost comparable to something called love, if not a deep bond or friendship. He cared for her more than he realised, and in that moment, he discovered that he loved her. Thorin Oakenshield, the stubborn dwarf prince of the Lonely Mountain, was in love with Evelyn Lieflin, the half human half hobbit girl from The Shire who had a heart that blazed hotter than dragon fire.

How he would tell her about his newfound feelings for her, he certainly did not know. But he would figure something out. He always would. After all, he was Prince of Erebor!

His thoughts were, unfortunately, interrupted as an unfamiliar voice filled his ears.

"Mithrandir," Somebody greeted. He looked up to see an elf man descending the stairwell to meet the company. He had long flowing brown hair and he wore midnight blue and scarlet red robes.

"Ah, Lindir," Gandalf said warmly, and he approached the elf.

Lindir touched his heart briefly with slender fingers then held it out to Gandalf in greeting, and said something in Elvish. Evelyn wished she could understand what they he had said.

"I must speak with Lord Elrond," Gandalf said to the elf.

"You have journeyed far Mithrandir, but I am afraid that my Lord Elrond is not here at the present time," Lindir said, almost in a grave tone.

"Not here, you say? Do you know where he is?" Gandalf asked.

The elf opened his mouth to answer, but was drowned out by the sound of a loud horn from the distance. It was the same horn they had heard back in the cave below the ground, and the group came to a conclusion that it was an Elven battle horn of sorts. The company turned around to see a single line of proud horses of different shades of white and grey, with elves astride them, cantering towards them. They made no obligation to slow down, and began surrounding the company. Bofur quickly pulled Bilbo into the centre of the protective circle the dwarves made, and they all drew their weapons. Thorin held Evelyn closer, his other hand armed with his axe as the elves surrounded them, tall and proud atop their horses, looking down at the company. The dwarves occasionally shouted words in their own language as the elves enclosed them in a circle, daring them to draw weapons.

"Gandalf," One elf spoke out, greeting him.

"Lord Elrond," Gandalf greeted. The elf dismounted his white coloured horse. He was dressed in shining silver armour and wore a dark green cloak over the top. His hair was long and dark brown and two thin braids cascaded down his chest.

Elrond approached Gandalf and pulled him into a short embrace. He then held up an arrow, similar to the one that had pierced Evelyn. "Strange for Orcs to come so close to our borders. Something, or should I say 'some_one_', drew them near,"

Gandalf looked slightly sheepish. "That might have been us,"

Thorin's arm released Evelyn and she quickly turned to the dwarf next to her for support. It was Bifur, and Evelyn timidly tapped him on the shoulder. She had not spoken to Bifur much seeing as they did not understand each other that well, and she was a bit scared of him as well. He turned to look at her and she gestured to him if it was alright for her to lean on him for support. He nodded, his huge head of hair rustling, and she nodded her thanks as Thorin made his way to the front of the company, proud as usual.

Elrond stepped forward. "Welcome Thorin, son of Thrain," He said grandly.

"I do not believe we have met," Thorin said in what Evelyn supposed he thought was a polite voice.

"You have the bearings of your grandfather. I knew Thror when he ruled under the Mountain,"

"Indeed, he made no mention of you," Thorin replied, in a slightly cool voice.

Elrond did not react to Thorin's obvious tone of voice, and spoke grandly in Elvish. Naturally, none of the company except for Gandalf understood this, and weren't impressed.

"What is he speaking? Does he offer us insult?!" Gloin shouted, raising his axe, preparing to fight.

"No, no Master Gloin! He is offering you food," Gandalf said, extremely amused. The company gathered together in a tight huddle, muttering to themselves for a few seconds. Then they all turned back to face Elrond.

"Er, well then," Gloin said. "In that case, lead on I suppose," Evelyn supressed a giggle. When they weren't fighting, they were eating, that was for sure.

She nodded to Bifur as thanks, and then stepped forward to follow the company. However, as soon as she took this step, white hot pain erupted in her side and she collapsed on her hands and, breathing heavily and raggedly as if she had been punched in the gut. She fell to the side and lay on her back, clutching her side in agony. The dwarves surrounded her. Thorin pushed forward and knelt down at her side. He pushed her hand out of the way, which had been clutching her side, and recoiled at the side of the wound.

Her shirt had been ripped where the arrow had hit her hip, and the wound had now turned jet black and the veins around the wound had turned black also, creating something similar to a web. Thorin recognized the appearance of the wound; the arrow had been dipped in a deadly poison, and was slowly spreading through Evelyn's body, killing her and bringing her intense pain at the same time. His finger accidently brushed the wound, and a horrendous shuddering rippled through her body. The pain grew, and she let out a desperate scream, arching her back slightly.

"Someone! Help her!" Thorin shouted out. The elf came to his side and knelt down. He too knew that she had been poisoned, and he could heal her, but it would take some time, and she was losing precious seconds of it quickly. Elrond scooped her into his arms and walked swiftly up the stairs, carrying her effortlessly. Evelyn's vision blurred suddenly, and she could not see anything but blurred shapes and colours.

"Thorin! Don't leave me!" She cried out. The pain grew worse and she passed out. Her bag fell to the floor, and Thorin picked it up, carrying it as he ran behind Elrond, fearing for what remained of her slowly depleting life and praying to whoever would be listening that she would live to see the next day.

_**I apologise for the somewhat larger cliffhanger present in this story, but I still hope you enjoyed it!**_


	8. Thorin's Decision

_**Well chicks and mates (Aussie version of 'ladies and gentlemen, felt like being creative!), my cold has been officially banished to another dimension somewhere else, so everything is all good now! I hope you like this chapter, although I must warn you that there is a bit of a not-so-friendly discussion between our main pairing in this story...**_

**Chapter 8: Thorin's Decision**

Thorin sat outside Evelyn's room with his hands clasped together tightly in his lap. He had been pacing before, but that had become tiresome and had made him even more anxious than he was now. He had winced and he felt like his heart was turning to ice every time a scream had come from the room. Evelyn had woken up since she had been taken to her room, but now all was deathly silent in there, except for the low, gentle muttering of Elrond's voice as he healed her and cleansed her of the deadly Orcish poison.

He cursed himself for not recognizing the poison earlier. He should have known that Orcs favoured poison in their arsenal every now and again. He could have helped her before, and she would not had to have gone through such terrible pain. He had sworn to himself to protect everyone in the company, including Evelyn, and he had not kept his promise, and he felt like an utter fool for breaking his promise. He blamed himself for what had happened. If he hadn't allowed to her to come on the journey, she would be at home in The Shire, safe and never in any danger at all of being poisoned or anything like that. There would be no way that she would ever be in danger in such a peaceful place. It was in that moment that, for her own safety, he decided that she would be better off staying here at Rivendell. Even though he still did not trust the elves, he did not believe that the elves would harm a hair on her head. They would care for her and provide a warm bed and good food, and help her to get home when she was fit enough to travel. It was simple, and no danger was involved, for she would be protected by the elves until she was safe inside her little home in The Shire once more.

Evelyn's bag sat on the very edge of the bench next to him, forgotten amongst Thorin's fear for her life. A small sketchbook slid out of it and landed on the floor. He picked it up off the floor, and absent-mindedly began to flick through the pages, curious to see what was in it. Thorin had noticed how she had been reluctant to show anyone what was in there, and all thoughts of respecting privacy were completely absent. His curiosity was too much to control sometimes.

He smiled as he studied the intricately detailed sketches that she had created. The first few were of a hobbit woman with long curly hair with a Man with fair hair. He guessed that they were her parents as his mind cast back to when she had told him about her parents in The Shire, briefly. The next few pages were of flowers or of different scenes. The rest were of the company. He could not supress a chuckle as he looked at a drawing of Kili whittling away at the wooden pipe he was making, a look of deep concentration on his face. He had seen Ori's magnificent drawings, but these were something else.

A loose piece of parchment fell from the back of the book and fluttered to the floor. He picked it up, and stopped as he saw that it was a drawing of himself. She must have done it when they had set up camp on the first night of their travels.

In the picture, he was standing on the cliff facing the campsite, his dark hair blowing back slightly in the wind and the moon shining small in the sky. He had been standing there while Balin had told Bilbo the story of how the dwarves had reclaimed Moria from Azog and the army of Orcs, and had turned around to see the company staring at him in awe and admiration. He struggled to wrap his head around the fact that he had been standing like that for mere seconds when he had turned around, and had no idea how Evelyn had managed to get every detail right. The picture was beautifully drawn, without a single fault. In the corner, she had written two words '_Khuzd-belkul'. _Thorin smiled at those words. He had no idea how Evelyn knew words from the ancient language of the dwarves, but he was certainly proud of her. Without thinking, he carefully folded the drawing twice and tucked it away in the pouch that hung from his belt.

The door clicked open and Thorin stood up immediately. Elrond emerged, his facial expression solemn.

"How is she?" Thorin asked immediately. He thought things had gone badly judging from the grave look on his face, but he was to be relieved.

Elrond held up a hand. "Peace, Thorin. Evelyn is well. The poison has been withdrawn from her body, and I have given her something to help her sleep, as the poison has given her a large amount of trauma. Orc poison does leave its mark, and she will have a permanent scar there which, I'm afraid, I cannot heal," Elrond said. Thorin made to go to her, but Elrond stopped him. "Please leave her be for now, she must rest and recover before continuing on with you,"

"She won't be coming with us," Thorin said gruffly.

"May I ask why?" Elrond asked.

Thorin looked up at Elrond. "She was my responsibility from the start, and she nearly died. She's better off staying here, where she is safe,"

Elrond nodded. "If this is your decision, we can provide food and shelter for her, and we will see her home," Thorin nodded. He glanced at the door again, the longing to see her evident in his eyes.

Elrond sighed slightly. He could not keep him away from her. That would be a cruel thing to do, and he was anything but cruel. "If you wish to see her, she is sleeping at the moment, but please do not wake her," He then walked away, presumably to join the others. Thorin huffed. Why should he take orders from an elf? Did he think he was stupid? He would not wake her. What a stupid notion… He slowly opened the door, and stepped inside. He was shocked at what was before his eyes.

Evelyn lay sleeping in a large bed. He quietly placed her bag on a chair next to her weapons. As he approached her, he saw that the poison had taken its toll on her; her face shone with a slight layer of sweat as if she was suffering from a fever, she was extremely pale, and slightly thinner, as if she had not eaten in a while. Her mouth hung slightly open, and she was frowning, as if she was concentrating on something. He sat down gently on the bed and grabbed, from the bowl on the table next to the bed, a cold flannel. He wrung out the excess water and gently dabbed her forehead with it, trying to soothe her unrest.

He placed the flannel back in the bowl and stared at her. She looked so beautiful when she slept. He removed a strand of her hair from her face, leaned down, and gently placed his lips to her forehead. He held his lips there for a few seconds, before leaning away, standing up, and leaving the room. As he left, he did not see the small smile that spread on her lips and her face relax.

Thorin closed the door quietly and made his way over to where the rest of the company were. They were all seated around a large table, surrounded by three other elves playing peaceful music. He sat down on Elrond's left next to Balin. The dwarves were not at all pleased with the food in front of them. There was a complete absence of meat, and instead the elves had offered them bowls of what Thorin took to be forest food. Assorted green foods and such, not exactly agreeable with the stomach of a dwarf. There were other foods, but Thorin did not dare to touch them in case he got sick or something. Who knows what sort of rubbish elves ate?

"Go on, have just a mouthful," Dori urged Ori.

Ori, who was holding a large lettuce-like leaf in his hand, shook his head in disgust and dropped it back on his plate. "I don't like green food," He said in a sulky voice.

"How is Evelyn doing? Is she alright?" Balin asked in a low voice as Thorin pulled his chair closer to the table.

Thorin nodded. "She is well. She is resting at the moment,"

"Rested enough, I think," An all too familiar voice sounded out from nearby. Thorin turned in his seat to see Evelyn leaning against a marble pillar, smiling. He stood up in shock, completely stunned to see her wearing not her usual attire, but a scarlet red dress with short sleeves and a low cut, gold trimmed collar. Around her neck was the leather cord with the little bird attached to it. Her skin was still slightly, but she was not as thin as she had been before all of a sudden.

Elrond looked genuinely surprised to see her up and about. "I did not think you would be awake yet, Miss Lieflin. Luck has favoured you, it seems,"

"Thank you Lord Elrond. I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for you," She replied with a smile. Thorin caught her eye and she blushed immensely.

"Hi," Evelyn stammered slightly. She wasn't sure what else to say at the current time, and greeting him was all she could think of. She curtsied slightly, and he bowed slightly in return, something between a grin and smirk playing on his lips. The dwarves did not fail to see this, and nudged one another quietly in an excited manner, exchanging knowing looks. They all recognized love when they saw it, and they could see it clearly in front of them. Evelyn noticed Bilbo trying to catch her eye. There was an empty seat between him and Kili, and she walked over and sat down.

"I'm glad you're alright," Bilbo said. She smiled and embraced him. She looked at the food in front of her, and took two pieces of the strange looking bread from the plate in the centre. It was the only thing that looked remotely like any of the food back home.

"What's that?" Kili asked her as she took a small bite.

"_Lembas_, Master Kili," Gandalf said to him. "Or waybread, as it is sometimes known. It is an excellent source of energy, it would do you good to try some," Evelyn agreed, the bread was delicious, and she even felt slightly reinvigorated. Kili ignored his uncle's look of warning – he did not want his nephew to become fat on Elvish food – and tentatively took a small bite. Evelyn could tell that he liked it because he took two more slices from the plate. He gave a slice to his brother, but he was not as keen as Kili was, and promptly gave the rest back to his brother, grimacing slightly at the taste that had befouled his tongue.

Gandalf and, reluctantly, Thorin showed Elrond the weapons they had acquired in the troll cave.

Elrond held Thorin's sword, running his hand up the blade. "This is Orcrist, the Goblin Cleaver. A famous blade, and a fine weapon for a mighty warrior, Thorin Oakenshield," Thorin nodded his thanks as the sword was returned to him. Elrond then took Gandalf's sword from him. "And this is Glamdring, the Foe Hammer. May I enquire as to how you came by these swords?" He handed back Gandalf's sword.

"We found them in a troll cave, shortly before we were ambushed by Orcs," Gandalf informed him.

Evelyn thought of her own bow, and wondered if it was famous, but decided to not say anything. She reckoned it wasn't that special anyway.

Evelyn looked over at Thorin, who was conversing quietly with Balin. He felt her eyes on him, and looked at her. They stared at each other for a while, before Evelyn quietly excused herself and walked away, feeling slightly uneasy. Thorin watched her leave, and it was not long after that he excused himself and went after her.

He found her leaning on a balcony overlooking the valley, her hair blowing back in the cool breeze.

"Are you alright?" Thorin asked her.

She looked up at him. "Well I'm alive, that's the important thing, I guess,"

Thorin frowned. "Of course it's important. Do you doubt yourself?"

She looked slightly startled. "No, no, no! I'm just a bit blown away at the moment. I mean, I thought I was going to die, and now I'm here, alive,"

Thorin nodded in agreement. "Even I thought you were going to die. But I am glad you're alive,"

She stared at him, and smiled. "So when are we heading off?"

Thorin looked at her gravely, and decided to tell her. "You're not coming with us,"

She frowned. "What do you mean I'm not coming with you? Have I done something wrong?"

He sighed. "You have not done anything wrong. You're staying here, where it's safe,"

Evelyn looked at him for a while, completely silent. First, she had a look of humour as if he was joking , then horror at the realisation that he was being serious, then anger.

"I'm not staying here! I'm coming with you!" Evelyn protested.

Thorin clasped her arms to her side. "You nearly died Evelyn. I will _not _be responsible for your death,"

Evelyn let out a bark of laughter. "So you _are_ concerned for my safety! And here was me thinking that you wouldn't bat an eyelid if I got myself killed by an Orc!"

"Of course I care, stupid girl!" He retorted to her.

"So I'm stupid, am I?" She shrieked. "Who was the one who was stupid enough to let me come on this adventure in the first place?! Oh that's right, you were! You're the idiot that let me come in the first place!"

"An obvious mistake!" Thorin snarled at her. He instantly regretted saying this.

She snatched her arms out of his grip and, without thinking, she clasped her hand in a fist and punched him in the face.

He yelled in pain and turned away, clutching his face momentarily before turning to her, angry beyond compare and his nose bleeding slightly. "WHAT IN THE NAME OF DURIN WAS THAT FOR?!" He shouted.

Tears formed in her eyes. "I'm not staying here Thorin! You can't keep me safe forever! My place is not here amongst Elves in Rivendell, or even back home in The Shire! It's out in the world, with the rest of the company, with you!" She wiped the tears from her eyes before they could fall down her cheeks.

"Your place is among those who can keep you safe!" Thorin yelled back at her.

"And you have kept me safe!" Evelyn shouted. "You, along with everyone else, have kept me safe!"

"So getting poisoned and nearly dying is your idea of safety?! Because if it is, then by all means go back up to that place and get yourself shot some more for all I care!" Thorin retorted sarcastically.

Evelyn bit her lip and became suddenly quiet, staring down at her feet. "So do you wish that I had died?" She whispered.

Thorin seemed lost for words. He had no idea how to reply. When he did, the words hit her harder than any poisoned arrow could. "If you wish for death so much, then so be it,"

Evelyn looked up at him, tears blurring her vision. She opened her mouth as if to say something, closed it again, and ran away without a word, a quiet sob emitting from her trembling mouth.

Thorin shook his head, almost in disgust. And he had _loved _her. Another mistake to add to the list of stupid things he had done recently.

_**Like I said, a 'not-so-friendly discussion'. I apologize for the delay in the update, I'll make it up to you guys! I promise!**_

_**P.S. Bonus points and an extra special mention in the next chapter shall be rewarded to the first person who can tell me what 'Khuzd-belkul' means!**_


	9. Evelyn's Decision

**_Thank you all for your kind reviews. 'Khuzd-belkul' is translated to 'mighty dwarf, so you were pretty much all correct! In one of The Hobbit Production Video Blogs, William Kircher (Bifur) says this to the camera so that Peter Hambleton (Gloin) can try and guess what it means. My first review on the previous chapter was from Skye Falls, who guessed the English translation correctly, and therefore won! But congrats to everyone else! Look out for Skye in this chapter ;-)_**

**Chapter 9: Evelyn's Decision**

Evelyn had not slept well that night. Her mind had been horribly plagued with Thorin, his words echoing loudly in her head, never letting her forget what he had said to her so coldly. She could not get him out of her head and heart no matter how hard she tried, and she almost felt like taking a sword and running it through her chest to try and relieve some of the pain she felt.

There was a small knock on the door, and for a wild instant she thought it might be Thorin come to apologize, but he wouldn't talk to her. No doubt he would have already left with the others without her. Evelyn stood up and wiped her eyes as she went to the door and opened it carefully.

A young elf girl stood in the doorway, a bundle of cloth in her hands. She was strikingly beautiful, with flaming orange hair and big, bright blue eyes.

"Hello," She said in a silvery voice. "I thought you wouldn't mind if I washed and mended your clothes for you," She held out the bundle of cloth, and Evelyn realised that it was her clothes.

Evelyn smiled warmly as she gently took her clothes from the elf. "Thank you very much. What's your name, child?"

"My name is Skye Aaliyah, daughter of Falanorah," She said, curtsying gracefully.

Evelyn laughed lightly at the girl's formal greeting, and curtsied in return. "Pleased to meet you. I am Evelyn Lieflin, daughter of Ella. Would you like to come in for a bit?" Skye nodded and she stepped inside. The elf girl walked, almost glided, over to Evelyn's bed and sat on the edge of it delicately, clasping her hands together in her lap.

"Why are your eyes red? Have you been crying?" Skye asked as Evelyn sat down beside her.

Evelyn sighed, the smile slipping from her face. "Yes, I must confess that I have been crying,"

Her brow furrowed in confusion and concern. "Why have you been crying? Are you hurt?"

"I am hurt, yes, but not on my body. In here," Evelyn placed a hand on her chest, right where her beating heart was. "I thought I was in love with someone, but he did not love me,"

Skye stared at her with her blue eyes. "Why did he not love you? Did you do something wrong?"

Evelyn chuckled. "No child, I did not do anything wrong. He wanted me to stay here so I was safe and not in danger, but I didn't want to stay because I wanted to be with him, and we argued about it," Evelyn chose to be a bit careful and simple with her words, partly because Skye would probably not understand her if she decided to explain the whole story in detail, from start to finish.

Skye made a small noise of thought and looked down at her toes. "Well it sounds like he does still love you to me,"

"Do you think so?" Evelyn asked her.

Skye nodded eagerly and turned her gaze on Evelyn once more. "Well, think about it this way. He wanted you to stay because he knew you would be safe here and he would be happy knowing that you would be alright and not in danger. So he still cares about you because otherwise he would not be trying to make you stay,"

Evelyn nodded, and gave the elf child a warm hug. "You are a very smart child Skye. Thank you for your advice,"

"You are welcome, Evelyn," Skye said happily, pleased to have helped her newfound friend. She then pulled away. "Well, I best be going now. My mother will probably be worried sick about me. I'm always wandering around, and I haven't done my chores yet,"

Evelyn laughed and led her towards the door. "Yes, do not leave your mother in a state of panic!" She opened the door and Skye stepped out. "It was nice to meet you. Do you think we will ever meet again?"

Evelyn smiled. "I hope so, dear one," Skye grinned and skipped away, her shining hair bouncing along and her hands clasped behind her back

Evelyn closed the door and went into the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. She certainly looked like she had spent the night in tears. Her cheeks were bright red and her eyes slightly bloodshot from the lack of sleep combined with the large amount of crying she had been doing throughout the long night. Her hair, which was very messy, was easily fixable, and she quickly ran her fingers through it to ease out the knots and make it look reasonably tame.

Evelyn slipped her body out of the scarlet dress she had borrowed. Her fingers lightly touched the bandages wrapped around her waist and the wound she had sustained yesterday. It did not hurt, thanks to Elrond's knowledge of healing. She unwound the slightly bloody bandages carefully, and revealed a dark red scar running from her belly button around her right hip to just before her spine. She did not think that the poison had been that lethal, but it obviously had been seeing as she had nearly died. She gently prodded the scar, no reaction.

Evelyn was used to her clothes being all dirty and worn, but Skye had washed them until there was not a single stain to be seen there. The rip in her shirt where the wound had been had been repaired, and she couldn't even see a stitching line when she held it up to the light to inspect it. Skye was a remarkable child, and certainly knew how to fix things as Evelyn put on the shirt and then slipped her arms through the sleeves of her jacket.

The sun had not risen just yet, but the sky was gradually lightening. Evelyn wondered if they had left Rivendell yet. Evelyn had just assumed that Thorin would not want to stay long in a place he hated among people he hated even more, and would want to leave as soon as he was able. This left her with a difficult decision; to stay in Rivendell like a good girl, or re-join the company and continue on the journey. Her options plagued her mind during the night, both just as tempting as the other. She could not help but feel that perhaps, somewhere deep down, Thorin was right deep down, and it was her duty to stay with the Elves until she was ready to go home back to The Shire, and therefore set Thorin's mind at ease knowing she was safe. _You're staying here, where it's safe… _But another part of her remembered what he had said to her afterwards. _If you wish for death so much, then so be it… _did he care for her at all? It was that other part of her, a much stronger part, that told her that maybe she should carry on with the company. She had signed the contract willingly, she had agreed to come on the adventure in the first place. And she had wanted to come so badly. Evelyn remembered the longing she had for an adventure that would take her away to distant lands beyond The Shire, and further on into the unknown. Both sides of the matter battled with each other, until she thought her mind would burst with the strain of making a choice. And then she made her decision in that instant.

Thorin had no right to tell her what to do. He may be the leader of the company, but she would not just stand back and be a coward. She would march right up to him and say to him that she would not be left behind and the only way she would stay is if he mortally wounded her then left her to Elrond's healing powers again. Yes, she would do that. She would have to stand up for herself, be strong, and take matters into her own hands.

Her bag and weapons sat near the door, and she quickly rearmed herself and slung her bag over her shoulder. Not wanting to be left behind as she had no idea when they were leaving, Evelyn raced out of her room, shutting the door behind her, not bothered at the moment by the fact that this would be, if everything worked out, the last time she would see a room in Rivendell. There would be time to dwell on that later, as she had no idea where the company was. Evelyn opted to guess and ran through the halls, her footsteps echoing through it as she searched for the familiar faces of the company.

She heard a low chorus of talking somewhere nearby, and she managed a slight smile of recognition at the sound of the dwarves talking in low voices in the small courtyard where they had arrived yesterday. They were nearly ready to go and she had arrived just in time, thankfully. Evelyn's presence went unnoticed for a bit as she stopped just before the corner, and she heard Balin speak as she peeked around the corner.

Balin was standing next to Thorin. "Shall I go and fetch Gandalf and Evelyn before we leave?"

"No," Thorin said quickly and roughly. "Evelyn will not coming with us, and Gandalf will catch up with us later," Balin opened his mouth to protest, but was interrupted.

"No need to fetch me, I'm right here," Evelyn said loudly as she announced herself. Everyone looked around at the sound of her voice and some of them even looked considerably more cheerful at her arrival.

"What are you doing here?" Thorin demanded immediately, glaring at her. The company, who had noticed Evelyn and Thorin's close friendship earlier on in the adventure, were surprised to hear Thorin being so hostile towards her all of a sudden.

"I'm coming with you, and nothing you can say to me will make me change my mind," Evelyn said defiantly and proudly. "And besides, the contract said you would not be responsible for any sustained, so it's not like it's a _huge _loss if I get killed," She said the last bit in a very meaningful and casual way, as if getting killed didn't bother her in the slightest.

Thorin looked like he was about to argue, then to Evelyn's extreme surprise, who expected an argument to form, he just shrugged a bit and his face softened a tad.

"If you must, then keep up," He then turned and led the company away. Evelyn savoured her moment of small triumph as she fell into step next to Bilbo as they moved off once more. She would not be left behind after all. Evelyn had expected another argument, but he had been strangely neutral about the whole situation.

Bilbo couldn't help but glance at Rivendell once more as they trekked up the mountainside. He sure would miss the beautiful halls and the peace. He regretted not learning more while he had been there. He made a mental note to come back someday, if he could.

"Mr Baggins, I suggest you keep up," Thorin called to him. Evelyn patted him on the back and he, reluctantly, turned his back on Rivendell and followed the group away. He almost had to resist the urge to run straight back to Rivendell and beg the elves to let him stay. But he knew that he was needed for a very important adventure. Even if he was terrified of being a burglar – he had made it quite clear that he had not stolen a thing in his whole life – he didn't want to back out now.

Evelyn managed one last look at the grand valley before it disappeared. She would also miss it, and Skye, especially dear little Skye.

* * *

They left the Valley of Imladris far behind them as they trekked up the mountain pass. Huge hills of grass stretched before them with snow-capped mountains surrounding them, and it proved difficult for them to walk uphill most of the time. Eventually, the ground levelled out, and they were travelling at a steady pace along the top of the hills, magnificent landscapes stretching out endlessly before them.

The whole time, Evelyn stayed quiet, pondering over the events that occurred last night, occasionally staring at the back of Thorin's head, willing him to look at her. She wondered if she should wait for Thorin to say something first. It was technically more his responsibility to apologize, but Evelyn did not want to fight with him. Her mother had taught her to be forgiving and never hold lifelong grudges against people. Issues are never solved with silence, her mother used to say. And so Evelyn held her head high in whatever confidence she could muster, and upped her walking pace until she was walking next to him. He did not register her presence next to her.

"How long are we going to continue not talking to each other?" Evelyn said to him gently, trying not to spark another argument. He did not respond. "Look, I know you're angry at me, and I understand. I mean, I was angry at you too, I mean… the thing is… well, I really don't know how to put it, but… um…" Evelyn's voice trailed off as she tried to find the right words to make things right. She was just babbling now, and she felt like a right fool.

She felt like she had finally achieved something when Thorin suddenly turned his piercing gaze on her, a complete absence of anger or frustration or annoyance on his face.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked her quietly.

She frowned. "Doing what?"

"Coming on this adventure. You were better off staying with the elves, you were safe there," He said to her. He did not raise his voice or make any indication that he was going to start a fight.

"I know you wanted me to stay there, but I didn't want to. This is my choice, coming on this adventure, and I get that you wanted me to stay, but I want to see the world and learn new things and, and… and be with you,"

Thorin stared at her quietly for a moment. "You want to be with me? Why?"

"Because I'm safe with you," She replied, looking him in the eye.

He did not respond for a while, and looked ahead at the mountains. When he turned back to her to speak, his voice was low.

"I spoke out of turn, and I did not mean to hurt you,"

Evelyn managed a tentative, small smile. "I understand. We're both alike in some ways, and I get that you want to protect me and such, but I can look after myself. I'm not as weak as you might think,"

"I never said you were weak," He said indignantly.

She shrugged. "But you implied that I was. I may be a woman, but I can look after myself,"

"I did what I thought was best, and you went against me anyway," Thorin said.

Evelyn opened her mouth to respond, but she instead squealed as she felt the collar of her shirt being pulled back and a handful of grass was shoved down the back of her top. She looked around and Fili and Kili darted past her, laughing mischievously and giving each other high fives. Evelyn shook out the back of her shirt and immediately sprinted after them, throwing grass at them and shouting that she was going to feed them to the next lot of trolls they would come across. They became involved in a grass battle, and Evelyn eventually looked very strange indeed, running around shouting obscenities at a couple of young dwarves with grass in her hair.

After a while, both Evelyn and the two brothers called a truce, and they shook hands. Evelyn decided to walk with Bofur for a change. He was nice and very kind to her, and she enjoyed his company.

The paths they took eventually led them up higher and higher into the clouds, into the mountains. As they did so, angry dark clouds boiled in the sky above. A storm was brewing. First came the rain, heavy and powerful, soaking them in seconds and dampening their moods, causing tempers to be lost quickly. Then came the thunder and lightning. Evelyn had seen her fair share of storms back home, but this was something else. The lightning lit up the whole sky in a brilliant white flash. Forks of jagged lightning danced across the dark sky. The thunder that followed close behind it sounded as if the whole world was breaking apart. The company's voices were drowned out by the loud booms coming from the sky very easily, and the company eventually gave up on trying to communicate with each other as they journeyed along the treacherous mountain path. The wind howled in their ears, strong and merciless, threatening to drag them all off the cliff into the crushing darkness with just one gust.

The rocks were dangerously slippery from the sheets of rain pelting from the sky, and the company thanked common sense that they were wearing sturdy footwear. Well, poor Bilbo wished he had a pair of boots, for the soles of his feet kept slipping on the jagged rocks, sending his heart into his mouth every time because of how close he would slip to the edge of the path and the amount of times he would almost hang in mid-air before being dragged back to the face of the mountain by the dwarves.

A loud booming sound came from out of nowhere as a huge boulder shattered like glass against the mountain, giant chunks of dark rock raining down upon them. They stared out into the distance, and the company could not believe their eyes as a monstrous figure rose up slowly before them, a low pitched wail reaching their ears.

"Bless me!" Bofur gasped disbelievingly as he stared out through the rain at the creature. "The legends were true! Giants, STONE GIANTS!" As he shouted this, the creature had thrown an enormous boulder towards the mountain. Huge chunks of rock rained down on the company, and they pressed themselves against the mountain to avoid the sharp rocks. The ledge they were standing on started to crumble away, and he mountain suddenly split down the middle in a huge chorus of loud crackling noises, and it was then that the dwarves realised that they were standing on the legs of another giant!

They were split up as the giant slowly stood up, an unearthly roar emitting from wherever its mouth was. The group shouted to each other from their separate positions on the giant's legs, trying to find a way to get back together as the colossal creatures clashed in an almighty thunder battle, oblivious to the weather around them as they hurtled their huge fists at each other, landing thunderous blows on their stony bodies and showering the world with huge splinters of rock.

The first giant tore a chunk of rock from the mountain and hurled it at its opponent. There was an ear-splitting crack as the giant's head was knocked clean off, and the headless body stumbled around aimlessly. Thorin had, without thinking much, pulled Evelyn into his chest for safety, not letting her go as they were helplessly stuck on the giant's body. She clung to him like a lifeline, what little warmth emitting from his body a welcome gift for her. The leg crashed against the mountain, and the small part of the company leapt off the leg onto the mountain. The rest of the company, which had been separated onto the giant's other leg, yelled as they went hurtling towards the face of the mountain. Thorin's anguished cry mixed with the loud booming of the thunder as his company was seemingly squished against the mountain. The headless body of the stone giant fell away from the mountain, its leg empty of any dwarf or hobbit, and it toppled to the ground. Thorin shoved past everyone else and ran to where the leg had hit the mountain. Relief washed over all of them as they realised that no one had been injured, and they all lay groaning on the large ledge of the mountain.

"Where's Bilbo?" Evelyn shouted as she realised that the hobbit was not among them. She turned, and saw a pair of hands gripping on the side of the cliff. Bilbo was hanging for dear life on the edge of the mountain!

"BILBO!" Bofur cried. He dived forward onto his stomach. Bilbo slipped down, and was now holding on with one hand from a small shard of rock just out of reach. Evelyn crouched down to help Bofur, and reached for Bilbo's hand, crying out desperately for him. She watched with horror as Thorin jumped down the cliff onto a small piece of rock jutting out and grasped the hobbit's coat and hoisted him up onto the edge with superhuman strength. Evelyn screamed his name as he slipped and began hanging on for dear life himself. Dwalin was quick to go to his aid, and both him and Evelyn pulled him to safety.

As soon as he was up on the mountain path safely, Evelyn grabbed Thorin and, also without thinking, pulled him into a tight embrace. "Bloody hell, don't scare me like that!" She gasped into the wet fur of his coat, shaking, but not from the cold air. He was momentarily lost for words, and patted the back of her head gently in a slightly awkward manner.

At least the hugging business meant she wasn't totally angry with him anymore.

"I thought we nearly lost our burglar!" Bofur said as he patted Bilbo on the back for comfort. The poor hobbit was shaking like a leaf, terrified to have come so close to death.

Thorin pulled away from her gently and stared at Bilbo angrily. "He has been lost ever since he left home," Thorin growled.

"Thorin…" Evelyn said quietly, trying to get him to calm down.

He ignored her. "He should not have come with us. He has no place amongst us," Bilbo looked down, feelings hurt beyond comprehension and extremely ashamed of himself.

"Thorin, please…" Evelyn said to him quietly. She found herself ignored again as he walked away.

"Let's find shelter," He said. Evelyn did not follow Thorin immediately, but waited for Bilbo to catch up. She gave him a pat on the back in a comforting way, and walked with him. They did not have to look far, and came across a dry cave quickly. Everyone piled in, and were quickly told to get some rest, except for Bofur, who would take the first watch. No fires were to be started at all. Who knows what sort of creatures lurked in caves in mountains?

Evelyn looked around for a spot to lay her bedroll. She smiled to herself as Fili and Kili noticed her searching and began to make room for her. She was grateful for their friendship, even if they were hell-bent on her attention constantly like toddlers, and laid out her bedroll between the two of them. She was well aware of the small space between them, but Evelyn didn't mind as long as they didn't get carried away. Evelyn tried to get as comfortable as possible in her bedroll as Fili and Kili secretly grinned at each other, and everyone slowly began sleeping.

_**I made a couple of changes to this chapter because I wasn't too happy with the way they made up so quickly.**_

_**P.S: Did you see Skye? :-D**_


	10. Welcome to Goblin Town

_**I apologize for the delay in the update, school decided that it would be a good idea to swamp me with homework! Nasty, tricksy homeworks, precioussss... Oh, and just so you guys know, I had to go back and make a few small changes to the first three or so chapters as I discovered a few errors that needed correcting. Hope you enjoy this chapter as Evelyn gets to encounter a certain someone ;-)**_

**Chapter 10: Welcome to Goblin Town**

Something urgent was happening, and Evelyn was still half asleep when Thorin started shouting for everyone to wake up. She wanted to know what was going on, and opened her mouth to enquire when her breath left her as the floor dropped out from beneath them. The company was then falling down through a steep tunnel that went further down underground into the mountain, sliding down at an uncontrollable speed. They were all yelling as they tried to stop themselves from falling. A few even tried to dig their weapons into the rock to stop themselves, but their weapons found no purchase on the unusually strong walls. How far were they going to fall?

Eventually, they fell out of the tunnel and they landed in a huge heap in an open topped cage made out of strange looking sticks that looked suspiciously looked like bones. They were in a huge cavern, lit up by fiery torches. Everyone groaned as Bombur was the last to fall and landed on top of everyone, his immense weight crushing everybody else and causing much frustration. There was a loud chorus of horrible screeching, and a pack of sickly pale creatures stampeded towards them. They were goblins, much uglier than Orcs and almost as vicious, partial to torture rather than a quick beheading.

Evelyn was of the same mind of everyone else as she scrambled for her weapons but they were quickly stripped of them and hustled along, being pushed and shoved along the precariously built wooden bridges, the stench of blood and rotting flesh intruding in their nasal passages. As the underground hole turned into a massive cavern filled with networks of bridges and lit by torches, the company saw just how many goblins could live together in one place. There were hundreds and hundreds of foul goblins climbing the rocky walls and stumbling along the bridges everywhere, banging weapons on the ground mockingly and yelling insults in their language at the company, obviously not pleased to be hosts to intruders.

Evelyn looked behind her and gasped as she saw Bilbo bend down on all fours and get left behind by the goblins. _Hobbits can pass by unseen if they wish… _she would not dare sneak away, and decided to let Bilbo find his way out. He would be fine, and she would rather stay with the group, where she felt safest.

They were ushered onto a huge wooden platform and surrounded. They were standing in front of a large throne. Upon it sat the ugliest and most disgusting looking goblin out of them all. He was unbelievably fat, with a horrible growth on his chin that was quaking every time the foul beast spluttered and coughed, and in his pudgy fingers he clutched a large staff. He wore something on his head that, Evelyn guessed, was supposed to be a crown, and came to the conclusion that he was the 'mighty' Goblin King.

"Who would be so bold as to barge uninvited into my kingdom?!" The ugly creature boomed, stepping off his throne, the whole platform shaking dangerously with the sudden change in weight. "Spies? Thieves?"

"They are dwarves, your malevolence!" One of the goblins wheezed hoarsely, smirking and showing off a row of rotting pointed teeth. "We found them on the front porch!"

"Dwarves?!" The Goblin King repeated incredulously. "Well, don't just stand there! Search them, every crack! Every crevice!" The goblins quickly set about carrying out their ruler's orders, snatching at whatever they could reach and stomping on whatever they felt was useless to them, including Oin's ear trumpet. Evelyn felt a sharp tug on her neck and punched one of the goblins in the face as its nasty claws made a grab for her necklace.

"TOUCH ME AND YOU'RE DEAD!" She yelled as the goblin yelped pitifully and scrambled back cowardly.

The Goblin King turned in the direction of her voice, intrigued. "What's this? Bring her forward!" Evelyn struggled as three goblins dragged her away from the protesting dwarves and threw her to the front of the group. She landed on her knees, and a goblin held her arms behind her back as she looked up at the Goblin King with pure anger.

"What a pretty young creature! What is your name?!" The Goblin King boomed, leaning closer to get a proper look at her. The stench surrounding him was unbelievable, and Evelyn grimaced and tried not to retch.

"You won't need my name when I cut off your ugly head," Evelyn snarled and she spat in disgust at the creature's feet.

The Goblin King's body rippled with horrible laughter as he turned its kind. "This creature has fire! Throw her in the dungeon! I shall deal with her later!" Evelyn's eyes widened slightly with horror, but she tried not to show it as the goblin restraining her dragged her struggling body away from the group.

"ENOUGH!" The voice of Thorin yelled. He shoved his way to the front of the group. "Let her go now!"

The Goblin King's mouth stretched into a knowing smile. "Well, well, well! Look what we have here! Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror, King under the Mountain!" He bowed mockingly for a moment. "Oh, but I am forgetting you don't actually have a Mountain, so that makes you… nobody really," Thorin glared at the disgusting creature.

"I know someone, who would pay a very pretty price for your head! Nothing else attached, just the head of course," The Goblin King said. "I think you may know of whom I speak… a pale Orc, astride a white Warg…"

Thorin narrowed his eyes slightly. "Azog the Defiler was slain in battle long ago. He no longer befouls the earth with his presence," He snarled.

"Oh, so you do think that the cutting of his arm would suffice for his death? So you think that his defiling days are done then?" The Goblin King jeered. He then turned to a tiny little goblin sitting on a chair suspended from a rope. "Send word to the pale Orc," He said, and the tiny goblin started writing on a clipboard quickly and eagerly. "Tell him I have found what he hunts," The creature squeaked in delight, then disappeared into the darkness.

One of the goblin's suddenly screeched loudly in fear and threw an object away onto the ground. Part of the blade of Thorin's sword revealed itself as it clattered on the wooden boards, and there was an instant reaction. All the goblins screeched, blind with fear, and backed away. Even the mighty Goblin King scrambled onto his throne away from the sword.

"Noooo! It's the Goblin Cleaver! Biter!" The Goblin King yelled. The goblins obviously took great offence to seeing this abomination of a sword in their home, and began to take it out on the company, taking out whips and striking them harshly.

Evelyn screamed as one of the whips tore a gash in her cheek, and she wrestled her arms out of her captor's grip. She lunged forward to try and wring the little creature's neck. She was immediately pushed backwards into the throng of dwarves, and she toppled to the ground. Thorin was pushed to the ground, and a goblin stood on top of him, its sword raised, ready to behead him with one swipe.

"THORIN!" Evelyn screamed desperately. There was suddenly a blinding flash of light, brighter than any flash of lightning, and everyone was blown back onto their backs by a rushing wind. An ungodly silence followed as the torches were blown out and darkness fell upon them.

Evelyn groaned and sat up. A tall figure with an oddly pointed head was slowly making its way towards them. As the torches slowly relit and glowed, the figure came into light, and the shape of his head was then revealed to be the cause of a familiar pointed hat.

"Take up arms," Gandalf the Grey said to them as they stood up slowly, the stone embedded in his staff pulsating with its own source of light brightly. "Fight… FIGHT!" The dwarves, spirits lifted and hope renewed, lunged for their weapons with immense strength and began to battle with the goblins, dispatching them quickly. Evelyn located and picked up her daggers and bow and quiver of arrows, and had a quick moment to slide the quiver of arrows over her shoulder and store her bow in the long belt that held her quiver. She dived forward into the battle, adrenaline running thick through her veins.

"He wields the Foe Hammer!" The Goblin King shouted fearfully, pointing a gnarled finger at Gandalf. "Beater, bright as daylight!" The Goblin King then roared and stomped forward, intending to finish him off. Thorin intercepted it before it could reach Gandalf, and slashed at his arm. The huge creature stumbled back, howling in pain, overbalanced and tumbled off the wooden platform, dragging a few of its servants with it. Goblin King indeed…

Evelyn, meanwhile, was battling on her own with two particularly nasty goblins. They stabbed and slashed at her with their horrible blades, hungry for blood. She felt herself nearing the edge of the platform, so she brought her daggers down in a huge arc to try and make them back off. It was then, that when she had her daggers raised, one of the goblins saw an opportunity and tackled her to the ground, ultimately pushing her off the edge of the platform.

The goblin fell away from her and landed on a jagged piece of rock sticking out from the cliff, a sickening crack sounding out. Wind roared past her ears as she fell down, down, down, further into the depths of Goblin Town. As she fell, a peculiar sensation washed over her. She felt unusually calm, knowing that she was about to die. She was going to see her mother soon, and perhaps her father. She closed her eyes, and waited for the inevitable bright light and the journey to the next realm.

But it never came. Evelyn landed with a dull thud in a pile of oversized fungi, bouncing up a little before becoming buried amongst the strange looking plants. She breathed heavily for a while, before opening her eyes. She had found the bottom of Goblin Town, and wasn't dead. Shaking madly, she extracted herself from the plants and looked around. She had no idea where to go, and how to get back to the company.

Evelyn decided to go on instinct and decided to try and make her own way back. The entrance to a tightly spaced tunnel stood before her, dark and foreboding. Evelyn was uncomfortable with the fact that those tunnels were probably crawling with all sorts of hostile creatures of the dark, and she would have to go through that tunnel without any available source of light. But she would have to be brave and tough it out.

Evelyn picked up her weapons from the rocky ground. They were, thankfully, not broken as she slid the daggers back into their sheathes and her bow with her quiver, and she tread carefully into the dark tunnel.

The darkness was unnerving to Evelyn, and every little sound sent her on edge. Occasionally, she spotted tiny glowing lights, the eyes of small creatures. She thought her eyes were just playing tricks on her, but she could not ignore the ominous lights that followed her every move.

Evelyn came to many forks in the tunnel, and she soon became frustrated as she seemed to be getting nowhere. As she came to another fork in the tunnel, she could not help it. Tears bloomed in her eyes and she fell to her knees and began to sob quietly into her hands. She was not hurt in any way, just frustrated to the breaking point and miserable beyond cheering up. She would likely never see the company again. She would never see home again. And most of all, she would never see Thorin again.

"Why does it cry, precious?" A hoarse voice suddenly sounded out from somewhere behind her. Evelyn jumped a mile, before unsheathing her daggers nervously and spinning around, getting clumsily to her feet.

"Wh-who-who's there?" She stuttered. She searched the darkness of the tunnels for any signs of life. She froze as she spotted a pair of bright lights close together, staring at her. A pair of eyes.

"Show yourself!" Evelyn called, feeling braver than she actually felt.

The bright lights came closer towards her, edging forward ominously. The creature slowly came into view. It was small, crawling on all fours, with pale grey skin and naked save for a ragged loincloth around its scrawny waist. It had huge blue eyes and small strands of dark hair protruding from its oversized head.

The creature hissed, suddenly looking hostile, and the pupils of its eyes contracted quickly, despite the darkness.

"Not more hobbitses. Tricksy, thieving hobbitses. No more riddles, precious," The creature hissed, and it started to crawl towards Evelyn, ready to kill.

Evelyn pointed her daggers at the creature, and it stopped abruptly. "Do not come any closer!" Evelyn said, finally finding her courage. "I am not a hobbit!" It hadn't really been a lie. She wasn't a complete hobbit anyway.

"What is it, precious?" It asked. It then coughed and spluttered, making an odd noise that sounded like 'gollum'.

"Is your name… 'Gollum'?" Evelyn asked curiously.

The creature widened its eyes in something crossed between fear and amazement, before turning away and muttering to itself. "It guessed our names, precious. How did it do that? Can it read minds? Is it a witch, precious?"

The creature called Gollum then turned back to her. "What is it?" It asked again.

"My name is Evelyn Lieflin," She said, lowering her daggers slightly.

She was surprised as Gollum's lips curled back in something acute to a smile. Nine pointed teeth glinted amongst the red gums as the pupils of its blue eyes suddenly dilated.

"It is a nice name, precious! We likes it very much, yes we do, precious!" Gollum said happily. Then, it suddenly looked fearful like it had remembered something and it started to cry noisily. "We lost the precious! Gone, stolen from us, yes it was. Tricksy hobbitses, they stole it from us!"

Evelyn frowned. "What was stolen from you?"

"It must not ask, it's not its business!" Gollum sobbed as it clutched its head in its huge hands.

Evelyn had an idea. "Look, if I help you find your… um… 'precious', will you show me the way out of here?"

Gollum looked up at her. "You will help us find the precious?"

"Yes, but only if you help me out of here,"

Gollum's face suddenly turned quite nasty, and the pupils contracted again. "The hobbit wanted to get out, and it stoles it from us before it ran away, yes it did precious. Does it have it in its pocketses, we wonders?"

Evelyn raised her daggers slightly. "I do not have it," Gollum obviously didn't believe her, and edged forward slightly, looking angry.

"The hobbit said the same thing, and we knew it had the precious…" Gollum hissed. "IT STOLES IT FROM US!" Gollum hissed menacingly. All thoughts of getting help were dashed away, and Evelyn ran for it, leaping over Gollum and going through the tunnels. She could hear the ragged breathing of Gollum pursuing her with a bloodlust, and she desperately ran faster, hoping to find the end of this accursed place before she was surely killed.

* * *

Up far above in Goblin Town, the dwarves and Gandalf battled with seemingly endless waves of goblins. They all worked together in seemingly effortless coordination to slaughter the vicious creatures, and hope of escaping now seemed prominent.

A loud boom emitted from Gandalf's staff as a bolt of something similar to lightning struck the rock above them, and a large chunk of rock rolled down the path they were on, squishing any helpless goblins that were in its path.

Their path to freedom lay clearly ahead of them in the form of a bridge stretching over two cliffs. They started to cross it, but they were halted in their tracks as it broke apart on the other side and the Goblin King climbed up to face them, a growl ripping from his mouth in triumph.

"Did you really think you could escape _me_?" The Goblin King boomed, swinging his staff at them menacingly. Gandalf had to quickly step back to avoid the swipe "What are you going to do now, wizard?"

Gandalf stepped forward and with one swipe of the Foe Hammer, he sliced the monster's belly open. The Goblin King fell to his knees, clutching his wounded stomach and whining in pain.

He lifted his head. "Well, that'll do it," He said matter-of-factly. Those were his last words as another swipe from Gandalf's sword finished him off, cutting deep into the growth on the creature's neck. There was a loud gurgling noise as the Goblin Kin's mouth filled with blood, and his eyes rolled back in his head as he toppled forward, destroying the bridge underneath him. What remained of the bridge plummeted down into the depths, the company clutching what they stood on for support and whatever safety they could grasp.

The walls narrowed immensely, thankfully slowing their fall as the rocky ground of the cave floor rushed up to meet them. The bridge snagged on the rocks and it shuddered horribly to a stop on the ground in a heap of wooden planks and beams, the dwarves trapped everywhere beneath the wood. They all simultaneously groaned as they lay there beneath wooden planks.

"Well that could have been worse," Bofur said optimistically. He had spoken too soon however, and there was a loud crashing sound as the lifeless body of the Goblin King landed on top of them. They all yelled and moaned as the weight of the dead goblin pressed on them.

"You've got to be joking!" Dwalin said through gritted teeth.

The dwarves slowly extracted themselves from the mass of broken wood, and started running as a huge mass of goblins were seen descending down upon them, crying out loudly in anger for the death of their leader. They were seeking revenge now, and no mercy would be given at all.

* * *

Evelyn was tiring out, and she was surely slowing down as the outraged Gollum followed close behind, hissing and breathing heavily. She turned down another tunnel, and she was rewarded with sunlight streaming through the exit to the tunnel. Hoping that Gollum would not follow, she literally dived out of the tunnel into the open air, rolling onto her side.

She froze, watching the tunnel, waiting for Gollum to leap out, but she had been right in her guessing, and Gollum did not emerge from the cave. She instead heard a quiet sniffing. The poor creature must have lost something very dear to him, but she dare not go back in there as Gollum would surely try to kill her again. She looked around at her surroundings. A steep hill descended into a huge mass of pine tree forests, and huge rocks stuck out of the ground here and there.

Evelyn heard a mass of approaching footsteps. She pressed herself up against the rocky mountain close to the tunnel entrance and turned her head away from whatever was coming, hoping they would not see her.

She couldn't speak as the footsteps were shown to belong to the company. The company of dwarves, led by Gandalf, emerged from the mountain, looking much happier to be out in daylight. She could only think of one name to call out for.

"Thorin!" She cried. He turned at the sound of her voice, and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Evelyn…?" He said hesitantly, obviously not believing his eyes. "But… you fell off the edge of the platform!"

"I landed on something soft, and I tried to get back to you, but those accursed tunnels led me astray for a while but then I found the exit," Evelyn said. Thorin walked forward and pulled her into an embrace. The warmth emitting from his body was a welcome feeling to her, and she couldn't help but nuzzle the fur on his coat and tighten her arms around his waist.

"I thought you dead," He muttered in her ear, a small chuckle vibrating from his chest. Evelyn didn't know what to say as Thorin pulled away from her gently. His hands gripped her shoulders gently as he looked at her.

"Are you injured?" He asked her seriously.

She shook her head. "I don't think so,"

His hand rose up to her cheek. When he touched it lightly with his fingers, it throbbed, and when he drew his hand away, blood had stained the fingertips. "So the cut on your cheek does not suffice as an injury?" She remembered with a start when she had been caught by one of the whips the goblins had been using after they had discovered Orcrist.

"Oh, that…" She said, and smiled sheepishly. "It's okay, it doesn't hurt, really," She added on the last word when Thorin gave her a look. "It's just a scratch, I'll be fine,"

He sighed deeply, and managed a smile. "Well, I'm glad you're safe all the same," He did not leave her side as they jogged down the hill into the safety of the trees, all too eager to get as far away as possibly from those dreaded caves. The dwarves gathered as the hill gradually levelled out. Gandalf did a quick headcount, muttering to herself.

"… eleven, twelve… thirteen… that makes thirteen!" He said, then he looked around. "Where is Bilbo? Where is our hobbit?" When no one replied, he repeated himself. "Where is our hobbit?!"

"Curse the Halfling!" Dwalin said roughly. "Now he is lost! I thought he was with Dori!"

"Don't blame me!" Dori said indignantly.

Gandalf looked around, worried for his hobbit friend. "Where did you last see him?"

"I think I saw him slip away when we were first cornered by the goblins," Nori said anxiously.

Evelyn stepped in. "I saw him slip away as well,"

"What happened exactly? Tell me!" Gandalf said loudly, then Thorin cut in.

"I shall tell you exactly what happened. Mr Baggins saw his chance and he took it," He snarled. "He has thought of nothing but his warm, soft bed and fireplace back in The Shire ever since he left home. We will _not _be seeing our burglar again. He is long gone by now," Evelyn cast her eyes down to the ground, sad for the loss of her friend. She would probably never see him again, and she hadn't even said goodbye to him.

"No, he isn't gone," A familiar voice piped up from behind them. The dwarves turned around in shock and Evelyn could not believe her eyes. Bilbo had not left them! He had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, looking as if he never left them in the first place.

Gandalf looked hugely relieved. "Bilbo Baggins! I have never been so glad to see anyone in my whole life!" Evelyn ran forward and wrapped her arms around him.

"It is good to see you Bilbo," Evelyn said warmly. He nodded at her and smiled.

"Bilbo, we had given you up!" Kili said incredulously, a grin spreading on his face.

"How on earth did you manage to get past the goblins?" Fili exclaimed.

"Indeed…" Thorin muttered. He almost seemed unhappy to see the hobbit.

Bilbo chuckled nervously, and he tucked his hands in the pockets of his waistcoat. Evelyn frowned as she thought she caught a glimpse of something gold fall into his pocket, but she thought of it as nothing more than a trick of the light instead. She saw that Gandalf had also taken note of this, and he spoke in a rather loud voice.

"Well what does it matter? He is here now!" Gandalf said.

Thorin took one split second of a glance at Gandalf before turning back to Bilbo. "It matters. I want to know something. Why did you come back at all?"

This was Bilbo's moment, and did he take it! "Look, I know you doubt me. I know you always have," Bilbo said. "And you are right, I do think of Bag End quite often. I miss all my books! And my lovely armchair, and my garden! And that's the thing because, you see, that is where I belong. That is where I call home. And that is the reason I came back… because you don't have a home. It was taken away from you, and I want to help you to get it back, if I can of course,"

All the dwarves stood in silence for a moment, taking in Bilbo's words. Thorin was looking at Bilbo with something akin to respect on his face. It was true. Their home had been taken away from them by Smaug. They often thought of their home wistfully. They missed the huge, magnificent halls, and the joys of mining for precious treasure in the caves, and the days when they would visit the city of Dale and meet with the joyful people who lived there to exchange pleasantries and the odd trinket or two. They were homesick, and Bilbo was right, and could not help but admire Bilbo for his wise and brave words.

A loud roaring from the distance suddenly startled the now reformed company, and they turned in shock to where they had just come from. Wailing howls followed the loud roaring, and the howling was unfortunately familiar to their ears.

"Out of the frying pan…" Thorin began.

"… and into the fire," Gandalf finished. "Run… RUN!"

_**So, what did you think of the encounter that Evelyn had with Gollum? I just had to get Gollum into the story. And just so you guys know, this encounter occurred between Bilbo running away from Gollum with the Ring and nearly killing him while wearing the Ring. Once again, many apologies for the delay in the update, but I have managed to get all that homework done so hopefully school won't be a meany and give me more!**_


	11. The Defiler Lives

**__****There is excitement in the air, as The Hobbit; An Unexpected Journey comes out on DVD in Australia on the 1st of May! So very excited to watch it again! But anyway, have another chapter :-)**

**Chapter 11: The Defiler Lives**

The company was quick to follow orders, and ran down further on into the trees. The sound of crashing bushes and heavy padded footsteps against the ground came ominously closer and closer. The Wargs were coming, and they needed to be quick to either run or fight. They could not run any further as they came to the edge of a huge precipice, a single tree rooted on the very edge, clinging to the rock as a lifeline. Down far below was huge expanses of forest as far as the eye could see. The fall would be deadly, and the company would not dare to venture too close to the edge for fearing of falling to their deaths.

"Up into the trees! Quickly!" Gandalf cried. Dwarves were not brilliant at climbing trees seeing as they spent most of the time with their feet planted firmly on rocky ground, and weren't at all keen to follow Gandalf's orders as they grasped onto the prickly branches and hoisted themselves up as fast as they could. But then again, it was either that or face the Wargs. Evelyn found herself in a bit of a fix as she found trouble with reaching even the lowest branches. Thorin, realising her difficulty, ran to her, grasped the back of her coat and threw her upwards into the branches with only a small amount of effort. She grabbed hold of the branch and pulled herself up with whatever strength she could conjure, Thorin following shortly after.

Evelyn watched with horror as she realised that Bilbo could not climb the trees either, being the shortest of the company. A Warg bounded towards him, and Evelyn hurriedly started to climb down and get to Bilbo. She, however, breathed a sigh of relief as he quickly pulled out his sword and the Warg ran straight into it, the sword plunging into its huge head. Bilbo looked shocked at himself as he suddenly let go of the sword as the beast fell to the ground dead.

The rest of the Wargs were fast approaching, and Bilbo quickly grabbed the sword and, mustering all his strength, pulled it out of the Warg's head. Before one of the Wargs could get to him, he reached for Balin's hand, and he pulled him into the safety of the trees, just in time. The huge beasts bounded towards the trees and pounced up them, claws scratching on the bark and snapping their powerful jaws at them, eager to tear them apart. Thorin reached down a bit and pulled Evelyn higher into the prickly branches, just out of reach of the menacing jaws of the Wargs. She clutched the material of Thorin's coat tightly, not wanting to fall to her death.

Evelyn watched, transfixed with fear, as a pure white Warg approached the company, flanked by two completely ordinary looking brown Wargs. Astride the white Warg was a huge Orc, pale as the moon with lightning blue eyes. The Orc was bare-chested, and its body was adorned with masses of battle scars. Half of his left arm was missing, and a spear had been impaled on the stump as a secondary weapon. Evelyn was not the only one to stare, as Thorin breathed its name in pure disbelief and horror, not wanting to believe that the enemy he had believed to be dead was standing in front of him, very much alive and ready for battle.

Azog the Defiler snarled, and his lips curled in a sneer, showing off an array of sharp fangs. When he spoke, Evelyn's blood turned cold and a shiver ran up her spine.

"Look at how they cower," Azog snarled, his voice hoarse and deep. "Do you smell it? Could it be the smell of fear?" Then his cold eyes turned on Thorin. "I remember your father reeked of it before I took his head!" He then turned to his minions. "That dwarf is mine! Kill the others!" The Wargs then redoubled their efforts to get at the dwarves, bark and pine leaves raining down on the ground as their claws scratched uselessly on the trees, giving them no purchase.

There was a huge cracking sound as one of the trees suddenly began to creak and groan. The force of the Wargs proved too much for the tree to bear, and it began to lean, its roots tearing up from the ground as the tree toppled over. Those who had been occupying that tree leapt to the next one as it toppled against it. The force pushed that one over as well.

Soon, the only tree remaining was the one of the very edge of the precipice. All the company clung to it desperately, just hoping that it wouldn't topple over like the others before it. Gandalf, being a clever wizard, grabbed a pinecone, muttered a few words and there was a whooshing sound as the pinecone became engulfed in golden flame, the result of a simple fire spell. He threw it, and a wall of flame erupted between them and the snarling Wargs. Azog roared in rage as Gandalf passed down burning pinecones for them to throw at their enemy. The Wargs tried to get past the fire, but it was magic fire, and was stronger than the average fire in a hearth, and the Wargs howled as the flames licked at their bodies, singing their fur and burning the exposed skin underneath. After a while, the Wargs ceased trying to get past the wall of flame and backed off. The dwarves cheered, bathing in their moment of victory.

A familiar creaking sound reached their ears and they yelled as the tree started to fall over the edge. The roots were stronger, thankfully, and it hung on the edge of the precipice, the dwarves holding on for dear life. Poor Ori lost his grip and was forced to grab hold of Dori's legs to save himself from falling down into the trees far below them. Dori too, lost his grip and Gandalf acted quickly, thrusting his staff downwards for Dori to hold onto. The dwarf had to use all his strength to stop both himself and his younger brother from falling down to their deaths.

Evelyn was holding on to her own branch, her arms twisted around a branch for support and her legs dangling freely in open space. She could only watch as Thorin took one angry glance at Azog and stood up slowly, never taking his eyes off his enemy. He stepped down the trunk of the tree, drawing Orcrist as he broke into a run, sword raised and his oaken shield in the other as he sprinted towards Azog, prepared for battle. Azog spread out his arms, mouth spread in an evil smirk, welcoming him to his doom. He roared, urging his white Warg to go forward, and it pounced, knocking Thorin on his back with its huge paws.

Thorin made to stand up, and Azog came back around and smashed his hammer into Thorin, knocking him to the ground once more with a roar of triumph. Evelyn's own cry of grief mixed with Dwalin's angry cry as he tried to go to his friend's aid and broke the branch he stood on, forcing him to hang on for dear life. The white Warg stepped forward, snarling, opened its powerful jaws and sunk its teeth into Thorin's side, picking him up off the ground as Thorin yelled in pain. He swung his sword, trying to get at the Warg, but it threw him away towards the edge of the cliff. Thankfully, he did not fall off the edge, and lay on his back, wounded.

Azog turned to one of the Orcs near him and spoke. "Bring me his head," He commanded. The Orc cackled with laughter and drew its sword as it dismounted off its Warg. Evelyn's eyes widened with horror as the Orc's sword swung up in a huge arc, ready to behead the dwarf. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, Bilbo appeared, tackling the Orc aside and stopping the fatal blow that was being delivered straight to Thorin's neck.

Bilbo looked petrified as he stood in front of Thorin, protecting him, his own short sword grasped in his hand. Azog stared down at the pitiful hobbit. How dare this insolent creature stand between him and his prey.

"Kill him," Azog ordered, grinning maliciously. Three Wargs stepped forward menacingly, hot saliva dripping out of their mouths and teeth bared, ready to tear limb from limb. Fili and Kili, along with most of the dwarves and Evelyn, quickly climbed up onto the tree and ran forward, shouting in Khuzdul and swinging weapons furiously, charging into battle against their old enemy. Bilbo cried out and ran forward, showing such exceptional bravery as he joined the battle. Evelyn, feeling exceptionally foolish and cocky, sought out a tougher opponent, and stood in front of Thorin, staring up at Azog defiantly. He would pay for what he had done to Thorin and his family.

Azog roared with mocking laughter. "What's this?! A mere girl! I'll enjoy making you suffer!"

"Do not underestimate me, Azog. I know how to use these," She said acidly as she brandished her daggers, gripping the handles tightly.

He laughed again, a cold laugh. "You will be begging for death soon, insolent creature!" Evelyn had heard enough, and she screamed her own battle cry and lunged forward, engaging the pale Orc in a furious battle. The Defiler swung his hammer furiously at her, but she managed to dodge his attacks, as did he. Evelyn turned around, ran forward and jumped onto a rock, using it to give her some height as she leapt off it at Azog. He was too quick for her and he brought his hammer around, smashing it into her side. A soundless gasp emitted from her as she flew to the side, landing hard on the ground and rolling closer and closer to the edge until the ground was beneath her no more. Her heart leapt into her mouth as she fell down. The same feeling that she had felt back in Goblin Town took over her, and she was sure that, this time, there would be no soft fungi to break her fall. She welcomed death to take her, but it would not come.

Evelyn landed on something unbelievably soft. It couldn't be a bed of fungi, as she couldn't have fallen so far that quickly. She heard an ear-splitting shriek and she realised that she was lying on feathers. She was riding on a giant eagle! She lifted her head up and took in the appearance of the great bird. Its wings were huge, beating powerfully as it soared through the air, unearthly screeches reaching her ears. It was a dark brown, and its feathers were unbelievably silky and soft. She grasped the feathers on its back for safety.

Evelyn watched as more eagles came, snatching Wargs in their talons and throwing them off the precipice. They flapped their great wings, sending fire blowing about the enemy, threatening to engulf them. She watched as an eagle approached Thorin, who was now unconscious, and grasped his body in its talons, picking him up and carrying him away gently. The rest of the dwarves were less than keen to go with the eagles as they were snatched off the ground in their talons and dropped on the backs of more eagles flying below, their yells of protest falling on deaf ears.

The tree that hung off the edge of the precipice cracked and finally gave way, toppling off the cliff to the ground below. Gandalf, who had been on the tree, jumped off it and landed neatly on the back of another eagle. The whole company safely with them, the eagles turned and flew away into the sky. Evelyn looked back as Azog the Defiler looked on, a frustrated roar escaping his mouth. He had come so close to exacting revenge on the Dwarf-scum, and they had slipped through his fingers. He would find them, he swore it.

* * *

Evelyn could not believe her eyes as reality finally sunk in and she had a chance to get a grasp on the current situation. She was _riding_ on the back of a _giant eagle_! She had never even considered that she would get to experience this, and yet here she was, far up in the air, soaring across the world on the back of an eagle. She could tell that the dwarves weren't enjoying their time as much as she was, as most of them were holding on so tightly with their eyes screwed shut. Dwarves weren't meant to fly, obviously.

Fili suddenly cried out, "THORIN!" And it was then that Evelyn sought out the dwarf leader. He was still unconscious, and the eagle still carried him in its huge talons, shifting its grip every now and then to better adjust to the small weight it beared in its claws. He was not awakening, and Evelyn grew worried, and prayed that he was not dying, if not already dead.

The eagles flew over a huge cliff with such grace and ease, passing over a giant waterfall into a huge valley. Right smack bang in the middle of it was a tall mountain. The eagles flew towards it, circled it and gently deposited their riders on the rock. Thorin was first, and the eagle gently lay him on the ground before taking off again to follow its companions. Gandalf was next, and ran over to him to help him. The rest of the company followed, and Evelyn whispered a thanks to the eagle before jumping off and running over to him. Concern tore at her as Gandalf whispered his name, to no response. He closed his eyes, and ran his hand over Thorin's face, muttering a few magical words. To Evelyn's great relief, his eyes fluttered open.

His half opened eyes turned immediately to Gandalf. "The Halfling? Evelyn?" He breathed.

Gandalf smiled. "It's alright, Bilbo and Evelyn are here, they're both quite safe," Thorin let out a small groan and he stumbled to his feet. Kili and Dwalin ran to his sides and helped him up. He quickly shoved them away, obviously not wanting to seem weak in front of his company.

Thorin stared at Bilbo. "You! What the hell do you think you were doing? You nearly got yourself killed!" He then took a few ominous steps towards Bilbo as he spoke again. Evelyn made to go to Thorin and try and calm him down, but Kili grabbed her arm and held her back.

"Did I not say that you were a burden on us all? Did I not say that you would not survive in the wild? Did I not say that you had no place amongst us whatsoever?" He said angrily. Bilbo looked disheartened by this, and seemed to look ashamed of himself. But none of the company expected what came next, especially Bilbo.

"I have never been so wrong in all my life!" Thorin exclaimed, and he embraced Bilbo, his burly arms wrapped around Bilbo's small body. He looked completely astonished to be in this situation. The company, glad to see the two finally make friends, cheered and clapped each other on the back happily. Evelyn grinned and looked at Kili. He smiled back at her.

Thorin pulled away from Bilbo gently. "I am sorry I doubted you. Thank you… for saving my life,"

"No that's alright. I would have doubted me too. I'm not a hero, I'm not a warrior. Not even a burglar for that matter," He then stared pointedly at Gandalf when he said the last bit, and the company chuckled.

Bilbo then turned to Evelyn. "But perhaps you should thank Evelyn as well. You did not see her before,"

Thorin turned to look at Evelyn. "Yes, well unfortunately, I was unconscious at the time,"

"She fought Azog," Kili informed him.

Thorin widened his eyes. He did not look angry, strangely enough. "Y-you fought Azog?"

Evelyn bit her lip. "Well, it was either that or let him take your head off, and I think most of us would agree that your head is better off still attached to your shoulders, including me, if that makes you feel any better," She added that last bit on the end for the hell of it.

Thorin walked towards her. "Do you remember what I said to you after we fought the trolls?"

Evelyn was slightly confused by this, but answered anyway. "Yeah, you said you wanted me to be more careful,"

"What else did I say?" He said. He was close to her now. Very close in fact.

Evelyn wasn't exactly known for a great memory, and she strained slightly to remember what he had said. But before she could use her brain much longer, Thorin spoke for her.

"I told you that the last thing I wanted was you getting hurt," He said gently. His hands went up to clasp her arms at her side tenderly. "And I meant it when I said that," For a wild moment, Evelyn thought he was going to kiss her.

She remembered back to the fight they had had at Rivendell, and winced internally. But she remembered how he had only fought with her because he had been desperate to keep her safe, desperate enough to force her to stay.

"I'm fine," Evelyn said quietly. "Really. You don't have to worry about me so much, I've taken care of myself for most of my life,"

Thorin didn't speak when she said this. When he spoke, his voice was oddly strained, like he was holding back some sort of powerful emotion. "Well, try not to take too many risks. It wouldn't do us any good if you died," He forced a slight smile on his face, then turned away from Evelyn. She thought she had said something wrong, and she had been right, because Thorin had turned away so suddenly so she would not see how pained he felt in his heart.

_**Azog was speaking English rather than... erm... 'Orcish' as I thought it would be more interesting to have him speak English, taking into account the fact that he encountered Evelyn.**_


	12. The Drawing

_**Many apologizes for the delay, I'm a terrible person. I found the coolest thing the other day. I was reading up about the next Hobbit film, Desolation of Smaug. I found out that Tauriel, the female elf who will be in that movie, wields two daggers and a bow and arrow just like Evelyn! I had no idea she did! Gotta love coincidences... but anyway, enjoy this chapter!**_

**Chapter 12: The Drawing**

When Thorin turned away from Evelyn, it was then that he saw something in the distance. He stepped forward, wincing slightly because of the pain from Azog's attack. As he neared the edge of the cliff, he let out a gasp as he realised what it was that lay before his eyes.

"Erebor," Gandalf proclaimed as the dwarves gathered around Thorin, staring in wonder at the place they called home. A single solitary peak in the distance was all it seemed to look like in Evelyn's eyes, but to the dwarves, it was their home, a grand kingdom that had once brought pride and joy to all those who resided there.

"Our home," Thorin breathed, and a smile grew on his face. It pained him to see his home so far away, but it gave him hope, because he was getting closer and closer to returning to that which he called home. He would never give up on reclaiming Erebor, ever.

After a small amount of time had passed in which the company gazed upon the Lonely Mountain in silence, they finally realised that they were practically stranded atop the stony peak. It was then that the realisation began to sink in that they were very high up off the ground. They all kept as far away from the edges as a single glance made them all very dizzy. The eagles had glided away into the distance, and were of no use. Dori suggested he should summon them again, but Gandalf bluntly refused.

"I cannot call upon them for help whenever I so desire. It is only in dire situations that they could come," Gandalf had said sternly. Quite a large portion of the dwarves did not find this so agreeable, and most of them responded to Gandalf with low grumbles of complaint and even a couple of glares were sent in the wizard's direction.

Gandalf ignored them and then wandered to the edge of the peak, obviously not afraid of heights. "There is a stairway we can take to get to the ground. But we must be careful," Well, if it was a way to get down, they would take it.

The stairs seemed to be a natural part of the peak, formed and sculpted by the fierce winds that battered the face of the rock. In some places, a few steps were missing altogether, and they were forced to use their wits and balance and jump to the next step. There had been a few hairy moments when the occasional shout rang out as one the company, namely one of the dwarves, slipped on a loose bit of rock. But apart from that, the whole company made it safely down to the ground without incident or injury, not taking into account the fact that they were all exhausted and had sore legs.

"We shall rest here for the night," Thorin said. The response was a chorus of relieved groans as the company flopped down on the ground, dumping their gear on the ground, grateful to be able to rest their sore limbs for a while. After a fire was started, they all ate a small portion of dry meat and bread, and settled down. A few of the dwarves, as well as Bilbo, had already retired for the night, eager to gain some sleep.

Thorin stared into the fire, the light emitting from the crackling flames dancing in his eyes. He was deep in thought, and he was pretty much oblivious to all that was around him, and did not notice anything when Evelyn sat down gingerly beside him on the ground.

"Thorin…?" She said hesitantly.

He jumped slightly at the sound of her voice. "Oh, it's you. No need to scare the life out of me,"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you," Evelyn said, and she smiled apologetically.

He smiled in turn. "It's alright, I was just deep in thought,"

Evelyn stared into the fire for a moment, then looked into his eyes. "Can I show you something?"

"Of course," He replied. She then turned around to fish around in her back. His heart pounded as she pulled out her little sketchbook, the familiar leather cover sharply textured in the light of the campfire.

She fished through the pages for a while, and her slightly eager expression turned to a frown then to a look of sadness. She then put her sketchbook back in her bag solemnly. "Never mind," She mumbled.

Thorin took a deep breath, reached into the pouch on his belt and pulled out the small piece of folded parchment. She frowned as he unfolded it and showed it to her. It was the drawing that he had taken from her sketchbook while he had been waiting for Elrond to heal her.

"Was this what you wanted to show me?" Thorin asked her.

"How did you get that?" Evelyn asked as she gently took the drawing from him and stared at it in wonder.

"When you were wounded, and Elrond was healing you, your sketchbook fell out of your bag and I sort of accidently looked through it," Thorin explained, hoping she wasn't angry that he had looked through it.

She looked at him, and a small smile grew on her lips as she held out the drawing for him to take back. "I did it for you, and I was going to give it to you when we were in Rivendell, but um… it slipped my mind," Her voice strained slightly as she said that, the memory of what had happened in Rivendell still eating at her mind slightly.

Thorin took the drawing back. "I'm honoured that you drew me," He said. "It's quite a likeness,"

Evelyn smiled. "It was rushed, but I'm glad you liked it,"

He smiled as he stared at the drawing for a while longer. "Why did you do it?"

Evelyn hesitated before answering. Truth be told, she was trying to find the right words to explain why she drew it. "I guess… well to be honest I actually don't know why. Before I even knew what I was doing, I was drawing you. It was like a habit or instinct or something,"

Thorin was looking at her with something akin to a blank look on his face. So Evelyn kept on talking. "All my drawings are supposed to mean something. They're supposed to tell me something. I drew my family because they meant something special to me that was greater than any other treasure. I drew flowers because they meant beauty and grace. I drew landscapes because they meant adventure,"

"And what do I mean?" He asked.

Now was the time to be honest. No backing down now. "You're the most stubborn and bad tempered dwarf I have ever met. But wherever you go, there's this aura around you, this proud and majestic aura that just seemed to… well, draw me in. And no matter how much I get annoyed at you, I would always admire you,"

Evelyn had not necessarily been speaking directly to him. She had stared into the light of the fire the entire time, afraid of his reaction and feeling exposed under his piercing gaze. She expected him to start shouting, or even hit her, but it never came. She turned to look at him, and he did not look angry. He looked _shocked_, there was probably no other way to describe how he looked. It took a while for him to speak, and those seconds they spent in silence was almost too strange to bear.

"There are rare moments when I am speechless, and this is one of them," Thorin said to her. He did not sound angry or disapproving, which was a start.

"Is that a good or bad thing?" Evelyn asked.

He chuckled. "It's certainly not a bad thing,"

Evelyn had been holding her breath, waiting for Thorin's reaction, and did her best to hide her extreme relief. "Yes, of course not, it's… yeah, not a bad thing at all!"

Thorin smiled and his arm draped itself over her shoulder. He squeezed her arm gently, and she stared into his eyes. "I'm deeply honoured that you drew me. I couldn't ask for anything better than a portion of your talent on paper,"

Evelyn felt herself blush madly, and glad that the darkness of the night hid her flaming cheeks. "You're very welcome, Thorin. I'm deeply honoured to have drew someone as… cool as you," She couldn't think of anything to say as she had been lost for words.

He smiled all the same, and he stood up. "Go get some rest Evelyn. I shall see you in the morning,"

"Yes, goodnight!" Evelyn said to him. She smiled as he walked away to his bedroll. She stared at the fire a while longer. "'Someone as _'cool' _as you'? Nice choice of words Evelyn," She muttered to herself, feeling like a prize idiot.

_**Sorry it's a bit on the short side, I'll make it up to you guys, pinky swear!**_


	13. May I?

_**Hello my wonderful and amazing followers! I just thought I'd let you know that I am going to continue on with this story even though there is no second installment in The Hobbit trilogy to fall back on, so I'll probably refer to the book a lot, but keep everyone in character and such. But anyway, I hope you like this chapter, because it is very exciting!**_

**Chapter 13: May I?**

It didn't take long for everyone to fall asleep. Their aching limbs deserved a rest after the events they had gone through the past couple of nights. However, they were not at all in a good mood when the company awoke after the first tendrils of sunlight of dawn spread across the land, creating shining pools of light on the forest floor. There was reluctance to get up on all the company's minds, except for Gandalf, who was up and about as if he had slept for so long last night. How he managed it was a mystery, but he was a wizard after all.

The company was reassured knowing that the remaining Orcs would not find them, especially seeing as the majority of them had plunged to their deaths at the hands, or rather talons, of the giant eagles. They decided to not be in a hurry to be on their way, and sat down for a warm breakfast of mutton, quite a treat when compared to the dry things they had forced down their throats during the few previous rests.

"Excuse me, Mr Gandalf," Dori began. Always so formal with names, especially when conversing with the wizard. "I don't suppose you have any idea of where to go from here?"

"I know of someone who can be of some assistance to us," Gandalf replied. "He is a very tall man, not a giant however, and goes by the name of Beorn,"

"Who is Beorn?" Evelyn asked through a mouthful of bread.

"Beorn is a Skin Changer, Miss Lieflin. He is something of a good friend of mine," Gandalf informed her.

Bilbo looked suddenly fearful. "He sounds a bit scary. Surely there is someone else we can go to?"

The wizard looked aghast at the hobbit's words. "Good heavens Bilbo! Don't be such a fool if you can help it! Beorn is a kind person and would not harm us… unless he is a bear,"

"A _bear_?!" Bilbo squeaked.

"Yes Master Baggins. When Beorn is not a man, he is a great black bear. Surely you knew that a Skin-Changer could change its appearance?"

"Of course I knew! But I'm not too fond of bears!" Bilbo said indignantly.

Evelyn patted him on the back comfortingly. "Do not fret Bilbo. I'm sure that he won't harm us," Bilbo did not look reassured, but relaxed slightly and stopped talking. Evelyn was not entirely convinced herself, but she trusted Gandalf, and that was good enough for her.

And so the company packed up the campsite, kicked dirt over the campfire to conceal remnants of the charred logs and ashes, and set out for the house of Beorn. No one knew how long it would take for them to reach Beorn, but they didn't expect a short trip. They travelled mostly in silence as they travelled in the direct view of the sun. No one really had much to say, let alone much strength to open their mouths as they were still tired and a bit sore all over.

The day was pleasantly warm and the sun shone down upon them as they trekked across great plains of grass that seemed to stretch on to beyond the world. It was truly a beautiful sight and Evelyn half wished they would make a short stop so she could quickly sketch the landscape. But it was not to happen, so she tried to keep a mental picture of the landscape fixed in her mind so she wouldn't forget it. Every tree, every blade of grass, every cloud in the sky, she tried to fix it all in her memory.

Eventually, they came across a large pasture, quite out of place when compared to the surroundings they had left behind them. The company halted at the edge of the pasture, reluctant to venture any further as they spotted unnaturally large swarms of yellow and black bumblebees buzzed around the trees and around the little wooden huts that served as hives for the flying insects. Evelyn had never really been very fond of bees ever since she had been stung by a particularly nasty one back home, and shuddered as she thought of having to walk through the swarms.

"Do not worry!" Gandalf said to them. "These bees won't harm us unless Beorn commands them to. Now, I will go first so that I may greet Beorn and tell him of our situation. It would be wiser to show a familiar face on its own rather than have fifteen strangers in tow. Now, when I call or whistle, come in pairs, and not a number higher," And with that, he disappeared into the trees, leaving Thorin to organize the company into pairs.

Evelyn found herself paired with Thorin, and she wasn't actually surprised by this, as he had practically yanked her to his side when Kili asked if she wanted to pair up with him.

"Are you afraid I'll get attacked by bees?" She asked teasingly, trying not to show her fear of them.

"Oh ha ha, very funny," He said sarcastically. But he smiled all the same. "If I let you out of my sight you'll probably get yourself into trouble again,"

She gasped and hit him playfully on the shoulder. "I will not!" He chuckled and shoved her in turn, gently of course. If he had really shoved her, she would have become sprawled on the ground with a sore back and a bruise.

A shrill whistle sounded out from somewhere among the trees. It had not taken Gandalf long to persuade Beorn obviously. Thorin tugged on Evelyn's arm gently. "Come on, let's go,"

They ventured into the pasture. Thorin's hand rested on the hilt of Orcrist, not at all comfortable with the bees surrounding them, the insects ready to turn nasty in an instant should their hives be threatened. Evelyn ended up holding onto the fur of Thorin's coat for safety, walking very close to him as if she would be attacked by the bees if she strayed too far away from him. Thorin found himself glad of the close contact between them both, not just because he knew she was safe, but she wanted to be close to him.

"Don't you like bees?" He asked her.

"To be honest, I'm not really fond of them," She said nervously, ducking her head as a particularly large one flew above her head like a little dart.

"Do not worry," He said in a slightly crooning voice. "Remember what Gandalf said? They won't hurt us,"

The trees thinned out, and Thorin and Evelyn emerged from the pasture, extremely grateful as well. They came across a huge house nestled comfortably in the trees. Gandalf was standing with his back to them, and in front of him was a huge man with a jet black beard and strong arms. He had bright green eyes that shined amongst the dark facial hair.

Gandalf turned around and smiled. "My dear friend, allow me to introduce Thorin Oakenshield, and Evelyn Lieflin,"

Thorin managed a bow, and Evelyn also bowed, trying not to stare too much at the tall man in front of her. She didn't want to seem rude, after all, as her mother had made a huge point of never staring at people, no matter how odd they looked.

"Welcome, welcome!" Beorn boomed in a huge voice. "And now, I must hear the rest of your tale Gandalf, for it interests me greatly!"

And so, as the rest of the company joined them, pair by pair, Gandalf regaled the deep voiced Skin-Changer with the details of their quest to reclaim Erebor. Beorn was most interested when Gandalf began to tell him of their escape from Goblin Town, and importantly, the slaying of the Goblin King.

When Gandalf had finished and the last dwarf had joined them, Beorn clapped his huge hands together in delight. "A fine tale, I must say! It is the best I have heard yet, however I am yet to believe if it is the truth or not! But I think you all deserve a fine meal and some rest! Come, we shall dine together and you can tell me more of your fine tales!"

* * *

Beorn had promised them a fine meal, and did he keep his promise! A huge table laden with all kinds of food, twice as more than what the dwarves had dined upon in Bag End, greeted the hungry company. They all sat down on comfortable chairs and ate, forgetting their sore limbs and troubles. Beorn told some tales of his own, and Evelyn was enthralled by the stories. Beorn seemed pleased by this, and took quite a liking to the half hobbit. Time passed quickly, and the sun set behind the hills. Torches were lit, and the house was soon lit up brightly as if the sun had never set.

Everyone was now full, and they leant back in their chairs, patting their stomachs with content, glad to have eaten something so delicious and filling. Evelyn laughed as a line of sheep with fluffy white wool and black hooves trotted in and balanced the dishes on their backs and whisked them away to be cleaned. _Sheep as servants_? Evelyn wondered to herself in bewilderment. What would come next?

"Go now, my dear guests!" Beorn said to them. "Rest and be merry!" And with that, the giant man rose from his oversized chair and wandered away, his giant shadow cast on the wall next to him and a little bit of a bounce in his step. The company settled down around a campfire with mugs of mead in their hands to share stories of their own. They half expected Beorn to return and join them, but he did not.

Evelyn bent towards Gandalf. "Where's Beorn gone?" She asked him quietly.

"Probably patrolling the boundaries of his home. The safety of his fellow animals is of upmost importance to him, after all," Gandalf replied. Evelyn shivered slightly in discomfort as the image of a huge bear-shaped shadow wandering around outside jumped into her mind.

Thorin noticed her shiver, and leant closer. "Are you cold?"

She smiled and shook her head. "No, I'm fine,"

He frowned. "Then why are you shivering?" Then, without waiting for a reply, he pulled off his coat and placed it around her shoulders. The delicious warmth was comforting, and she smiled gratefully as she pulled the material tighter around her small body. She could detect the musky scent of him in the coat, and it smelled… _good. _She took a quick glance at Thorin, realised he wasn't watching her, and she sniffed the material quietly.

Some time passed, and signs of sleep began to show. Eyelids drooped, conversations slowed down and yawns replaced their words frequently. Soon, they all accepted the dawning fact, and began to get out bedrolls. But before they could actually lay them out, the sheep came back, trotting in jovially, this time carrying straw mattresses upon their woolly backs. They were grateful to sleep on something so comfortable when compared to their worn bedrolls, and after thanking the sheep, sleep claimed most of them quickly.

Evelyn lay awake on her own mattress for quite some time, Thorin's coat still wrapped around her small form. Sleep would not take her as easily as the others, and so she stood up and took to wandering Beorn's home, curious to see what else Beorn lived in.

She felt brave enough to step outside, and followed a stone path into a beautiful garden. Flowers of all shapes and colours that were even more stunning than the gardens in The Shire grew in large patches. Evelyn found herself drawn to a small bunch of flowers just nearby.

They were small, shaped like roses. But what stood out most was the fact that the flowers glowed in the moonlight. They shone a brilliant silver blue and tiny sparkles danced around the petals.

"I shall name them 'moonlights'," Evelyn said to herself, smiling. Her fingers lightly brushed the petals, and they felt soft and light like bird feathers. Evelyn was slightly tempted to pick a flower, but there would be no doubt that Beorn treasured these flowers, so she left them be.

Evelyn carried on further down the path a bit more, and she came across a grand looking marble rotunda with vines twisting around the struts and up the supports onto the roof, giving it the appearance of something that had long since been claimed by nature. In the middle of it was a stone basin filled with clear water. Not a single ripple distorted her reflection as she stared into it momentarily. Evelyn wandered under the roof of the rotunda to it and leaned on the railing, staring at the bright moon that shone in the sky amongst the tiny glittering stars. She sighed.

"Can't sleep?" Someone asked. She jumped, but smiled when Thorin approached.

"No, I haven't been able to," Evelyn replied as he came towards her. He came to her side and he too gazed up at the moon. "Beautiful, isn't it?" She said dreamily as she cast her gaze back to the moon.

He chuckled. "I could name something more beautiful than any moon,"

She raised her eyebrow. "Oh really? Come on then, hit me with your best shot? What could be more beautiful than a full moon surrounded by stars in a clear night sky?"

"Oh you'd laugh if I told you," Thorin said and he looked away slightly as if embarrassed.

"I wouldn't! I promise I'll keep a straight face!" She said, and she then forced her mouth into a straight, grim line. It didn't last, and a smile came across her lips, unable to keep a straight face in a serious situation that actually wasn't serious at all.

When she finally collected herself, she saw that Thorin was staring at her. "What? Is there something on my face?"

He stepped closer to her and raised his hand to the side of her head. His calloused fingers entwined themselves through her auburn locks.

"May I?" He asked her.

She frowned. "Erm… okay?" She had no idea what he was asking, but all came clear in a few seconds. With the kind of expert and gentleness Evelyn never expected from him, he began to braid parts of her hair. She stayed stock still the entire time as his fingers worked their way through her hair. Evelyn never expected Thorin to be an expert in hairstyles, yet here she was.

It took a surprisingly short time for Thorin to braid her hair, and he stepped back to admire his handiwork. She wandered over to the stone basin in the centre of the rotunda, and glanced down at her reflection.

On both sides of her head, two braids fell down on either side of her ears. Around the back, the top layer of her hair had been pulled back in a smaller, chunkier braid. A thin layer of hair was left untouched underneath it. On the right ride of her face, a third, thin braid fell closer to her face. It was clasped with a tiny wooden bead. The rest of her hair was as curly as ever.

"Um… braids! Thanks… but um, why braids, if you don't mind me asking?" Evelyn asked as she gently touched the bead. Thorin took a deep breath before speaking, obviously preparing himself.

"Braids are of significance among dwarves. They can symbolize anything from trust to friendship to relationship bonds and even marriage ties. The braid at the back symbolizes trust. The two on the left side of your head are friendship braids, and also demonstrate acceptance among dwarves. These three," He touched the three braids on the right side of her face. "These are actually… um… well they are courting braids,"

Evelyn widened her eyes. "C-courting braids?" Thorin suddenly looked a tad nervous. Evelyn had never seen him fidget so much.

"Yes, courting braids, in general, establish that you are unable to be courted by anybody else as you have already been… well 'claimed'… by someone else,"

Evelyn put the pieces together for herself. "So… wait… are you… _courting_ me?" She choked slightly on the word, unable to believe that this was happening.

"If you'll accept my offer," Thorin said, looking into her eyes with the sort of uncertainty Evelyn had never seen before.

Evelyn was stunned into silence. When she didn't speak, Thorin looked slightly downcast. "I'll understand if you decline my offer to court you. I will not be unkind to you,"

There were no words to describe how she felt. She decided to express herself in actions rather than words. She leaped at Thorin and embraced him. He stumbled back before he wrapped his arms around her purely out of shock.

"Of course you can court me, you silly dwarf!" Evelyn gasped happily.

_**:D :D :D**_


	14. Not Just a Dream

_**School has not been kind to me lately unfortunately and I have not been in a writing mood, but here we are, with another chapter! Sorry for the delay, but if you wanna hear more or whatever, PM me :-)**_

**Chapter 14: Not Just a Dream**

_It was just a dream. A wonderful, amazing dream_, Evelyn thought to herself sadly as she slowly woke up. None of what happened last night had actually happened, she concluded. It had all been in her extremely imaginative mind. As she stretched her legs, which had been bent slightly and had cramped up during the night, and yawned quietly, it was then that she sensed that something was wrapped around her waist, and she was lying against someone's chest. Heart rate accelerating, she carefully rolled over, and whatever was around her waist tightened slightly in response to the movement. She then had to stifle the gasp she had been about to let out as she saw who was next to her.

Thorin Oakenshield was lying beside Evelyn, eyes closed, his burly arm wrapped around her waist tightly, fingers splayed across her back and keeping her in contact with his chest. Evelyn smiled and snuggled further down what she had took to be her blanket, but now realised that it was Thorin's coat. She was content to stay where she was and watch Thorin sleep. He looked so peaceful now, completely different to how he was when he was awake.

There was a slight hitch in Thorin's breath, and he groaned slightly as he began to wake up. Evelyn quickly shut her eyes and tried to make it look like she was still asleep, and she had been just quick enough. She felt the back of his knuckle stroke her cheek, a warm and gentle movement on his part. Pretending to only just wake up, she faked a gentle yawn and slowly opened her eyes. His hand retreated and his sleepy gaze was upon her. He smiled gently, his blue eyes slightly glazed over because he was still sleepy.

"Good morning Evelyn," Thorin greeted her quietly as the hand on her back slid up to play with her hair.

Evelyn smiled through half open eyes, still genuinely tired. "Good morning to you Thorin,"

"Did you sleep well?" He asked.

She nodded and did her best to keep her eyes fully open. "Yes, I did. The best sleep I've ever had I think," He smiled as he twirled a few strands of her curly hair in his fingers. "Was last night a dream?"

He smiled. "No, definitely not a dream," He pinched the bead in her courting braid gently between two fingers and rolled it between his fingers, fiddling with it. The braids that Thorin had created in Evelyn's hair were strong and did not untangle during their sleep together. And the metal clasps that bound them at the ends helped as well to keep them woven together tightly.

Evelyn blushed. She felt like her whole face was on fire; it felt very hot. "Can I ask you something?"

"You just did," He replied, grinning.

She let out a small laugh, then turned serious. "How long had you been thinking about courting me?"

"Ever since Rivendell. I would have loved you even if you have declined me," Thorin said.

"I would have not declined you. Even if I had, I'm sure you would have won me over with your stubbornness and persuasive charm," Evelyn said in a slightly mocking voice.

"'Stubbornness and persuasive charm'?" Thorin repeated incredulously. Evelyn smiled cheekily. He then pulled her closer to him and he captured her body beneath his, ultimately trapping her.

"Hey!" Evelyn said, and she giggled as she tried to wriggle away, taken by surprise and positively rippling with excitement by the contact between them and the way Thorin was acting.

She froze slightly as he whispered in her ear. "I could certainly use my 'persuasive charm' on you right now," His voice was so seductive, and Evelyn almost lost whatever sense she had right there and then.

"Thorin…" She said quietly and smiled.

What happened next was something she did not expect. Thorin moved his head upwards slightly and captured her lips with his own in a kiss, a small gasp of surprise emitting from the girl. Evelyn had never experienced anything beyond a friendly peck on the cheek from her mother or father, and this kiss was blowing her mind. It was riddled with a burning flame of passion, and she could not help but wish for this very moment to never end as she locked her arms around his neck, holding him close to her as he kissed her. She even began to feel slightly dizzy as the kiss deepened even more.

Their self-restraint was stronger than what they thought they possessed as they broke apart, panting slightly and feeling like they were floating on the highest cloud.

"Did that just happen?" Evelyn gasped as she touched her lips with the tips of her fingers.

He smiled. "Allow me to refresh your memory," He was about to bend his head down to claim her lips again, but she placed a hand on his chest.

"Thorin, you're getting carried away," She said as she smiled gently.

"And is that a bad thing?" He asked mockingly, raising an eyebrow.

She sighed. "It could be when there's a whole company of dwarves plus a wizard and a hobbit waiting for our return so that we may continue our journey,"

He sighed in turn, sounding much more frustrated but in a comical manner. "Save me from the common sense of hobbits,"

She laughed. "Poor Thorin," He chuckled and rolled off of her so that she could sit up.

It seemed like things had been going to go _that_ _way_ last night, but both Evelyn and Thorin had decided on spending their first night together asleep in each other's arms, a much sweeter and more 'innocent' option than what had been thought of. They had quietly returned to the group last night, grabbed their straw mattresses, and had slept under the roof of the rotunda, away from the others with only each other for company. It had been Thorin's idea to do that, and a romantic one at that, considering that Evelyn didn't think that Thorin was the romantic type. Still, he had braided her hair.

Evelyn had been speaking the truth when she said that she had experienced the best sleep of her whole life last night, knowing that she now had someone to love in her life since the passing of her dear mother. She had missed her mother so much, as she had been so important to her and was the only person with which she could confide in or love. And now, she was alone no more.

Thorin had ultimately decided that he had just made the best decision of his life, braiding Evelyn's hair then asking for her permission to be courted by him. He had never truly loved anyone besides what remained of his family, until now. He had thought back to Rivendell, when he had realised that he had been in love, it had been his duty to keep her safe. She would never leave his sight now. He would not lose her like he had lost his family.

"How are we going to tell the others of… us?" Evelyn asked as she stood up, smoothing her clothes and hair down a bit to tidy herself up.

"I am sure that they will figure it out by the braids, but if you like, we can address them as soon as we find them," Thorin said to her.

It sounded so formal. "Maybe we should tell them a bit later. You know, break it to them slowly," Evelyn suggested.

Thorin thought this over, then nodded. "As you wish… you make it sound like our relationship is forbidden!" He then chuckled and took Evelyn's hands in his own, caressing the back of them with his thumbs. He leaned in and pecked her on the cheek, not as heated as their previous kiss, but still beautiful on its own.

They both heard approaching footsteps and turned to see Kili wandering towards them, having figured out their whereabouts somehow. Their hands retracted from each other and they tried to make themselves look natural, but it was too late; Kili had seen them.

"Everyone is ready to go Uncle," He said with an oddly strained voice, his facial expression somewhat hardened as if to prevent any sort of emotion to be portrayed on his face. He did not even acknowledge Evelyn one bit as he turned and walked away a bit faster than normal.

Evelyn looked back at Thorin, frowning a bit. "Did I do something wrong?"

"I don't know. He's a strange boy, I've never really understood him sometimes," Thorin said, shrugging.

"Do you think he does not approve?" Evelyn asked. "I mean, is he not really happy with us being together?"

Thorin shrugged again. "I'm not sure. I'll talk to him later,"

Evelyn then had an idea. "Why don't you let me talk to him?"

Thorin looked a bit surprised, then nodded. "If you want to, be my guest. See if you can figure him out, I've had no luck so far and he's my nephew!"

Evelyn laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning in to kiss him again.

As soon as Thorin and Evelyn were finished mucking around, they gathered up their things. Two sheep appeared from nowhere and took the straw mattresses away, bleating occasionally to each other and hooves tapping away on the ground quietly. After that, the newfound couple went to regroup with the company. When they found them, all ready to leave, Thorin and Evelyn could not help noticing that they were all looking strangely smug and kept glancing at each other with funny looks. They had figured it out all on their own by the looks of it. The only person who wasn't looking extremely smug or somewhat pleased was Kili, whose face was very stony looking. He didn't even look at his Uncle when he arrived, and was staring very hard at the floor as if trying to melt it with his gaze, angry about something by the looks of it.

Beorn appeared next to the company, and clapped his hands together once to gain their attention. "My friends, I wish to bid you good luck on your journey. I know of a secret path not far from here. It will be safe for you all to travel on, as long as you do not stray from the path!"

"Thank you Beorn for your help and hospitality," Gandalf said, bowing deeply to show his appreciation.

"You are quite welcome!" Beorn boomed in response, bowing, his black beard brushing the tiled floor. He then turned to Evelyn. "I hope you will visit soon Miss Evelyn, as I quite enjoyed your company!"

Evelyn could not help a slight blush, and she smiled and managed a slightly clumsy curtsey. "As did I! I promise I will visit again!"

Beorn's eyes crinkled as he grinned. He then extended his hand and he dropped a small object into her hand. Evelyn looked down, and saw that he had given her a little wooden flute attached to a green cord. She blew on the little instrument, and a beautiful sound emitted from it.

She smiled up at the Skin Changer. "Thank you Beorn," She then hung it from her neck with pride. Beorn's eyes twinkled in happiness, and he wished with all his heart that the dear girl would visit him again soon.

As soon as they set off, Fili decided to find out what was going on with his brother, as Kili was rarely quiet. "What's wrong Kili? You've barely spoke all morning!"

"Do you think Uncle and Evelyn are courting now?" He asked his brother.

Fili gave him an odd look. "Well it's a bit obvious that they are. Evelyn's hair is in braids now, and she has a courting braid… you don't seem too happy for them, you know," He said thoughtfully, staring at his brother with interest, trying to decode the puzzle that made up his mind.

Kili shrugged, not exactly an answer. "I guess it's just a big surprise,"

Fili raised an eyebrow. He had learnt all of his brother's mannerisms over the years they had spent together, and could tell when he wasn't approving of something. "Do you have feelings for Evelyn?"

"No!" Kili said, far too quickly. When his brother raised his eyebrow again, "Well maybe a little…"

Fili patted his brother on the back. "Do not worry Kili. You will find someone,"

"Yes, but what if that someone is Evelyn! What if the very person I'm meant to be with is her?" Kili said exasperatedly. He had never felt this way about any person before, and it was driving him crazy.

Fili knew exactly what to say. "In order to find the right person, you both have to have the same feelings for each other. I'm sure than Evelyn loves you, but more in the sense that she wishes to be good friends, nothing more. I am happy for both her and Uncle," When Kili cast his eyes downwards, Fili gave him another pat on the back.

"Not to worry brother, you'll find your special someone. Just not now," He said cheerfully.

Kili managed a smile. "Thanks brother,"

Fili grinned, pleased to have made some sort of progress. "Anything for my best brother!"

"And only brother," Kili pointed out. He now felt slightly more cheerful than before. He would apologize to Evelyn later and say how happy he was for her and his uncle. He would not ruin his uncle's happiness.

_**So yeah, a bit of jealousy! Not to worry, there will be a little bit of KilixEvelyn interaction so that they can sort everything out :-)**_


	15. Mirkwood Forest

_**I am thinking that I might quite like to start a BofurxOC story soon. I've already got a couple of ideas planned in my head, and I'm thinking it might be post BoFA... would you read it? But anyway, have another chapter!**_

**Chapter 15: Mirkwood Forest**

Beorn had generously provided the company with ponies, all a lot less shaggier than the ponies they had started off with at the beginning of their adventure, but they were all a perfect size for them all. There was even a proud horse fit for Gandalf to ride upon. Evelyn could not help but let her heart ache a bit for her sweet dark-haired pony Aedan, who had bolted along with all the other ponies before being chased by Wargs and Orcs across the plains. She liked to imagine that Aedan was now able to wander the great expanses of Middle Earth as he pleased, free and wild.

As soon as they had all hoisted themselves into the leather saddles and bid farewell one more time to Beorn, they were off, riding in single file away from the house of Beorn until they could see it no more as it was concealed by trees. As Evelyn looked back and waved sadly for the last time, she only just noticed Beorn clutching a tablecloth-sized handkerchief in his huge hand.

As they rode along, Evelyn peered down and raised the wooden flute to her eyes to look at. On close inspection, she could see a delicate engraving of flowers growing on twisting vines. She smiled as she recognized the flowers as the moonlight flowers that she had named last night. With almost something akin to an instinct, she placed it upon her lips and began to play. She could only think of one tune to play, and all of the company were silent at once as they listened to an all familiar tune. Not long after listening to the sweet music, they began to sing along to it solemnly. Even Bilbo quietly hummed along as they were all forever reminded of the sole purpose that they found themselves journeying for.

_Far over the misty mountains cold_

_To dungeons deep and caverns old_

_We must away, ere break of day_

_To find our long forgotten gold_

_The pines were roaring on the height _

_The winds were moaning in the night_

_The fire was red, it flaming spread_

_The trees like torches blaze with light_

As the last sweet note from the flute died away and floated on the gentle breeze, the dwarves were unnaturally silent as the words rang in their ears, a huge reminder of what lay ahead of them, and what would be there at the end of their journey.

"That was beautiful lass," Bofur said to Evelyn, who was riding behind her on a light grey pony with dark grey splotches.

Evelyn turned her head and smiled at him. "Thanks. I didn't think I could play the flute at all!"

"You're always full of surprises," Kili said from further back down the line. Evelyn's smile faded slightly, as she couldn't tell if Kili was being kind or rude. She pulled on the reins of her pony gently and slowed down, waiting for Kili to catch up so she could ride next to him.

"Have I said something to upset you?" Evelyn asked him.

He pursed his lips slightly. "Not entirely," He said cryptically.

"'Not entirely'?" Evelyn repeated. "So I have done something to upset you. Well, whatever I have done, I'm sorry,"

"You can't fix it with words, but thank you for trying anyway," Kili said with a slight gruff tone.

Evelyn frowned. "Why? What's the matter Kili? You're starting to scare me,"

Kili let out a huge sigh. "When I saw you with Uncle this morning, it was kind of obvious that you were together, but I thought there was something between us… something more than friendship,"

Evelyn widened her eyes. "Oh Kili…" She said exasperatedly. She could already tell what he was getting at.

He looked her finally. "I'm not going to spoil what you and Uncle have, but I just wanted to let you know how I felt about you… how I _feel _about you,"

If they hadn't been riding ponies, Evelyn probably would have thrown herself at him and hugged him to comfort him. "I'm sorry if I have hurt you or led you on Kili, but I really do love Thorin, and you are like the brother I never had,"

"What about me?" Evelyn heard Fili say incredulously from behind them.

Despite knowing that he had been eavesdropping, Evelyn turned her head and smiled. "And you too Fili," She saw him smile contently.

Kili stared at her silently for a moment. "Do you really mean that?"

"Of course I do! I would never lie to you!" Evelyn said. Kili's mouth spread in a smile, and he held out a hand for Evelyn to shake. She smiled, and as she took it, he yanked her, and she nearly fell off her pony, grabbing onto the saddle to prevent herself from tumbling to the ground. He roared with laughter, and Fili joined in.

As Evelyn up-righted herself, she narrowed her eyes, but smiled all the same. "Cheeky devil,"

Friendship rekindled, Kili and Evelyn remained in good spirits for the remainder of the journey. The company rode on for a while longer, and the high spirits that had been present began to ebb away as the company began to feel a sense of slight unease, knowing that what lay before them was something they had not encountered. As they reached the edge of Mirkwood Forest, they were in for more bad news.

"This is where I leave you now," Gandalf said solemnly. They had reached the edge of the forest, and they could all see why it was now called Mirkwood instead of Greenwood.

Even from the outside, Mirkwood had a very despairing and gloomy look about it. The trees were strangely withered and their branches drooped sadly. There was not much to see beyond the edge of Mirkwood apart from the odd pair of glowing eyes that stared at them, seemingly scrutinizing them was a thick blackness. It was then that everyone suddenly found themselves extremely reluctant to go into Mirkwood, especially now that Gandalf had firmly stated that he would not be accompanying them.

As they dismounted the ponies, remembering that they needed to return them to Beorn, they wasted no time in voicing their protests at Gandalf leaving them.

The wizard waved away their protests, and spoke over the top of them. "I have made up my mind, there is no point in arguing!" When the company fell silent, Gandalf spoke again. "Don't be so glum, my friends! You will be able to manage fine without me, you are dwarves… and hobbits," He added on the last lot, and Evelyn smiled appreciately. Bilbo, on the other hand, didn't look so encouraged.

"I'm not so sure I want to go in there," Bilbo mumbled as he gave his pony a longing pat. He wasn't so keen on leaving his pony.

Gandalf looked slightly aghast. "My dear Bilbo, Mirkwood is the only way to the Lonely Mountain! Surely you want to help your friends on their quest still!"

Bilbo looked around guiltily, then held his head up higher, putting on a brave face. "Of course I want to help my friends,"

"Good," Gandalf said with a smile.

"How will the ponies get back to Beorn?" Ori asked.

"I will be leading them back, and they will manage mostly without me anyway, as animals have a good sense of direction! And after all, they are ponies of Beorn," Gandalf explained.

The company turned to look at the murky black of Mirkwood, grimaced slightly, and slowly ventured single file into the forest.

Before they were completely swallowed up by the darkness, Gandalf called out a warning.

"Don't leave the path whatever you do!" He called as the last dwarf – it was Bombur – was soon not even the slightest bit visible through the darkness of Mirkwood Forest.

_**On a side note, I am coming into that time of the year when studying is a tad more important than my fanfic (I know, it's preposterous!), so I apologize in advance for any delay that may occur in between updates!**_


	16. Into Darkness

_**Well as it turns out I didn't need to study as much as I thought I would have to. I've got a GAT coming up next week, but you can't really study for a GAT as I found out, so all good people!**_

_**BIG NEWS PEOPLE! Had a totally amazing idea just before. Not only am I going to be writing a BofurxOC fic, but I will also be writing... *drum roll***_

_**A RICHARD ARMITAGExOC FIC! Thoughts?**_

**Chapter 16: Into Darkness**

The company, now short one very important member, walked solemnly in single file into the darkness of Mirkwood like a funeral procession. Thorin led the group, as always, and Evelyn followed close behind him, separated only by Dwalin. She wanted to stick close to Thorin, but she wasn't about to argue with a dwarf who was more muscle than anything else. And also, Dwalin would not let her come to harm. She occasionally had to grab onto the material of his coat when her feet caught on roots sticking out of the ground and she tripped. Dwalin didn't seem to mind, he probably hardly felt it.

Gradually, as their eyes adjusted to the unusually thick darkness, they could make out funny looking squirrels leaping across the path and through trees, bushy tails flying behind them as they seemingly glared at them with purple eyes that somehow managed to glow brightly through the darkness. They could make out other noises as well; snuffles, wailing moans, low grunts, bone-chilling growls and other such ominous noises. The company had become too accustomed to the gentle, docile animals that resided with Beorn, and were driven to the very edge every time they heard a foreign noise or saw another one of those creepy looking squirrels bound across in front of them.

Evelyn had begun experiencing breathing difficulties ever since they entered Mirkwood. It hadn't been so bad before, but now that they were further in, she began to find breathing extremely difficult. She didn't mind the dark as such, but this was something completely different. It was heavy, dragging her down, and seemed to take most of the fresh air away and infect it. Her breathing came raggedly and uneven now, and she began to feel as if she was being crushed from either side by some invisible monster.

"Thorin!" She gasped as she began to hyperventilate.

She bumped into Dwalin as he stopped, and she felt his arms clasp her arms by her side. "Calm down Evelyn. Take a deep breath," He said in his thick accent, sounding gentle for the first time.

Evelyn closed her eyes, tried to stop panicking and took a deep breath, and the crushing feeling shrunk away slowly, like some strange creature slithering away from her.

"Are you alright Evelyn?" Bilbo asked. He had been behind her.

Evelyn sounded short of breath, but she nodded, gulping in the newfound air like it was water. "Yeah, I-I'm fine now. Sorry everyone,"

"Don't be sorry," Thorin said firmly, who had appeared beside Dwalin to check on her when he heard her distress. "Are you alright to move on, or would you like to rest a minute?"

She shook her head. "No, it's okay. I can keep going," She could just imagine Thorin's doubtful look right now, but she would be alright.

And so the company moved on. It only took less than an hour spent in there for them to grow an immense dislike of Mirkwood. There just seemed to be no ending to it. The path kept on going further into the thick darkness. And they had long since lost sight of the sky, and they had all lost track of the time. No one could remember whether it was the sun or the moon that was shining in the sky at the moment.

Finally, Thorin halted. "We'll stop here to rest," He called.

Gloin attempted to start a fire, being quite handy with fire implements, but as soon as a campfire and the small clearing that they had stopped in came into relief, casting eerie shadows and giving the place an even creepier look, swarms of grey moths descended upon them, causing much frustration as they surrounded the light. The moths didn't go away even when they swatted at them madly, and the frustration carried on until it with the campfire being promptly put out.

"We'll sleep in the dark," Thorin said to them with an air of slight reluctance. He preferred to be aware of his surroundings, and was well aware of how vulnerable they were now, not being able to see anything beyond a few feet in front of them as well as the ever-watching eyes from the shadows.

After a few apologies for stepping on and tripping over others, Evelyn finally found her way to where Thorin had laid his bedroll. She almost collapsed down next to him, and the dwarf wasted no time in pulling her closer to him, enveloping her in his arms, making her feel comfortable for the first time since the morning of their departure from Beorn's house.

"Sorry for freaking out before," She said guiltily as she rested her head against Thorin's chest.

He nudged her gently. "What did I tell you before?"

"Don't be sorry," She said, smiling while repeating what Thorin had said earlier.

"This accursed darkness has put a lot of strain on everyone," Thorin said bitterly. "It's not your fault,"

Evelyn smiled and snuggled in Thorin's arms. "I'm glad I have you with me,"

"As am I," He replied, placing a gentle kiss upon the top of her head to prove his point.

It took a while for everyone to fall asleep. Despite knowing that Fili and Kili, who both had the keenest eyes of the whole company, were keeping watch, they couldn't seem to get to sleep, especially with the glowing eyes watching them. Everyone was too uneasy about the whole situation to be comfortable at all.

Nevertheless, everyone finally managed to drift off, and were awoken later on. They couldn't tell if it was morning or not, as no sunlight could reach them through the thick canopy above them. Deciding that rationing food would be a wise option, only a small amount was eaten from the supplies, and they set off once more, bellies rumbling from a hunger not quite satisfied, and tired as well.

They continued on along the path further into the depths of Mirkwood, eventually losing all track of time whatsoever. They couldn't exactly remember how many days they had spent in Mirkwood, but they all guessed at around four or five days, perhaps five.

On that fifth (or fourth) day, the company came to a river. It was not a calm, gentle stream like the one in The Shire. It was a very fast flowing river that looked like it would drown anyone foolish enough to try and cross it. And they were going to have to be foolish enough to cross it. And to add to it, the water was pitch black. They didn't need to remind themselves of Beorn's warnings to figure out that the water in the river should not be touched, let alone drunk or bathed in.

"How are going to get across?" Bilbo asked despairingly. He had not been a bundle of laughs and optimism for the last few days. On the contrary, he had been quite down and very miserable. For he was a hobbit, the kind of person who enjoyed the feel of the bright sun smack-bang on his face, warming it up. He missed the sun, and dearly wanted to see it again soon, otherwise he would surely go insane.

Fili squinted through the darkness, then pointed triumphantly. "I see a boat! There, on the other side of the river!"

"Well that's no use, it's on the other side of the river, and we can't cross it!" Bilbo exclaimed sadly.

Thorin, who had good sights but not as good as his nephew's, stood closer to Fili. "How far away is the boat?"

Fili thought this over for a few seconds. "Maybe ten to twelve yards away, perhaps,"

"We could throw a rope over?" Bombur suggested. This was a good idea, and being the only idea to be presented, throwing a rope was to be the plan.

Fili, who happened to be the best thrower, retrieved a bundle of rope from his pack and stood as close to the bank as he dared. It took him only two tries to hook the rope onto the boat, which Evelyn found to be an admirable achievement as she probably wouldn't have done any better than him at all.

After a few minutes of pulling on the rope, a feat completed on Dwalin's and Thorin's part, the wooden boat was on their side of the river. It was a reasonable size, big enough to fit perhaps a maximum of five people. Thorin organized the company into groups, distributing everyone so that the boat would be able to take the strain of the maximum capacity of people it could carry. Bombur was last, and Evelyn distinctly heard him grumbling in annoyance, but she chose not to say so. Bombur was a bit on the chubby side after all, but that didn't stop her from feeling a bit sorry for him, even if the reason he was so large was his own fault.

Soon only Bombur, Dwalin and Bilbo remained on the bank. It had been a precarious journey to the other side of the river, as the river threatened to toss them all into the depths. The boat had wobbled and creaked slightly under the weight of the company, but it held together.

But then something extremely unfortunate occurred. As Bombur, who was the last to get out of the boat, stood up, he overbalanced as the boat rocked harder owing to Bombur's mass, and the poor dwarf toppled backwards, his arms waving around madly, and he landed with a large splash in the jet black water.

"Bombur!" Bofur cried. Him and Bifur lunged forward with Thorin, who had thrown a rope around Bombur, and the three of them managed to hoist the fat dwarf out of the water and onto the river bank, dragging him with as much strength as they could manage.

However, when they stopped pulling him, they all realised that Bombur was not getting to his feet, but actually fast asleep as if he was upon his bedroll, snoring quietly and gently. Bifur and Bofur shook him, but nothing they could do would wake him up. They bluntly refused Fili and Kili's offer to throw a bucket of clean water on him.

"This is perfect…" Evelyn heard Thorin mumble under his breath, his voice riddled with sarcasm.

_**Poor Bombur... :-(**_


	17. Lights

_**I must apologize for the delay in updating, past events have caused delays and such things to occur. Thanks for your patience, you guys are the best! **_

_**I've had a good idea for a fanfiction based on the movie Stardust, so that's now three fanfictions I could do next! Far out, got a lot of work ahead of me!**_

**Chapter 17: Lights**

No matter how hard they tried to bring Bombur back to the harsh reality that was Mirkwood, he would not awake from the accursed sleep the water of the river had bewitched him with. And so, with great difficulty on their part, Bifur, Bofur along with Dori and Nori were forced to heave the oversized dwarf up to shoulder height and carry him for the rest of the journey. This proved to be a very strenuous task, as it made the going much slower, and rest stops were need, almost demanded for, a lot more frequently. As a result, it seemed to most of them that they had made little progress. And it wasn't helping that Thorin's temper was reaching breaking point. The only person who seemed to be able to keep him calm was Evelyn, which was understandable.

To top it off, food rations were being shortened considerably as supplies began to be noticeably smaller than what they had before they set off from Beorn's house. The majority of the company were then very hungry for most of the day, and the food they received was nowhere near enough to satisfy the hunger that plagued their empty stomachs. Bilbo appeared to be suffering the most, as he was used to the customary six or seven meals a day with plenty of hearty snacks in between, and had not adjusted well to the lack of food. His movements had become a lot more sluggish, and he was talking less.

Well, at least Bombur was not awake, otherwise he would have not been able to keep his complaints to himself, and that would have set Thorin off big time.

At the end of another tiring trek, the dwarves carrying Bombur practically dumped him unceremoniously on the ground, sore and very grumpy indeed. Evelyn could still hear Bifur's low mutters in Khuzdul. He was not happy one bit. Even Bofur, who was normally very cheerful and almost always had a hearty grin on his face, couldn't find anything optimistic to say and stayed silent with a grim expression on his face that did not suit his still-twinkling eyes.

After a pitiful meal of stale bread and dry mutton, the company lay back against their bedrolls and slowly drifted off into an unpleasant sleep. Evelyn could not sleep at all as she had been suffering from unpleasant dreams since after she had been having trouble breathing that time. And so therefore, she volunteered for the first watch.

The further they had travelled into Mirkwood, the thicker the darkness had become. Evelyn wished there was a fire going, but the moths would come back again and wake everyone up, so she would have to rely not only on her limited sight, but her hearing as well. Thankfully, her hearing was reasonably good, and was not startled when Bilbo approached her, stretching the joints in his arms quietly.

"Can't sleep?" She asked sympathetically, turning to look at him as he sat down quietly next to her.

He shook his head mournfully. "I haven't been able to sleep very well since we first got here. I don't like this place, it's too dark,"

"I'll drink to that," She said half-heartedly. "Hopefully we'll be nearing the edge of the forest soon, then we can get out of this accursed darkness,"

Bilbo nodded, and stared thoughtfully into the dark for a while in silence. When he spoke again, he was being quite serious.

"I'm very happy for you and Thorin," He said.

Evelyn looked over at him, feigning innocence with not much success. "What do you mean?"

"Oh come on, I know he's courting you! Who else would have braided your hair?" Bilbo said exasperatedly, but in a low whisper.

Evelyn smiled and raised her eyebrow. "Since when did you become an expert in dwarf lore?"

"Since I've been reading books about them a lot more than you have," Bilbo said smugly.

"Bookworm," Evelyn said, grinning.

Bilbo laughed quietly. "I remember after I fainted back home that Gandalf said something to me. He said 'The world is not in your books and maps, it's out there',"

"Well he has a point. If you want to know something for yourself, go out and seek it," Evelyn declared.

Bilbo nodded in agreement. "Do you think we'll see Gandalf again?" The manner in which he asked her this made him sound like a small child asking about lost parents.

"Yes, I believe that we will. He's a wizard after all, he'll find us again in the blink of an eye" Evelyn said cheerily, convincing both Bilbo and herself at the same time. She had no idea she could be so cheerful in such a dreary place.

Evelyn suddenly stood up and drew her daggers slowly as a pattering noise reached her ears. It sounded like feet to her, and that meant that something was coming. The pattering noise came again, louder. Then it was everywhere, around her, on her. Evelyn bit her lip, sheathed her daggers and sat down and drew her jacket around her, raising the hood up above her head.

_It's just raining idiot_, Evelyn thought to herself, kicking herself silently. She was too nervous, and needed to relax. But how could she when there were creatures watching her every move?

"This is just great," She heard one of the dwarves grumble, but she couldn't tell who.

All of a sudden, there was a great moaning sound. Evelyn spun around and her eyes widened in surprise. Bombur was finally waking up! The rain was washing away the bewitchment! Everyone noticed this, and they all crowded around the oversized dwarf, watching him anxiously. Bombur stretched his stout arms and legs and woke up, sitting up slowly.

He did not look himself. On the contrary, he looked quite confused. "Where am I?"

"Bombur, don't you remember? We're in Mirkwood Forest. We're on a quest to Erebor," Bofur said in a slightly desperate tone. "Oh Bombur don't you remember anything?"

Bombur looked around at everyone, and his gaze rested upon Bilbo, who was standing next to Evelyn. "I remember having dinner at the hobbit's house in The Shire," He then looked at Evelyn. "Bilbo never said he had a wife," He said, staring up at the girl with a thoughtful expression on his face. It almost looked comical.

"Er, Bombur, don't you remember? This is Evelyn," Bilbo said cautiously.

A gurgling sound emitted from Bombur's stomach. He looked up hopefully. "Is there anything to eat?"

Everyone exchanged glances. They had ran out of food a while ago. Bombur, a great lover of food, would not take the news well.

"Bombur, um…" Bofur said, clearing his throat. "There isn't any food left. It's all gone,"

The poor dwarf looked horrified, then flopped back on the ground, miserable beyond consoling. He looked on the verge of tears, and this was not an overreaction, as Bombur was used to food being available around the clock. Bilbo had not fared well, but he had taken the news with much more dignity than Bombur was showing.

"I was having such a pleasant dream," Bombur moaned as he buried his head in his hands. "I was walking through a forest, it was lit by glowing torches. Then I came upon this feast, there was a king sitting at the table with a crown of golden leaves! It was such a merry place, oh why did I wake up?"

Thorin did not look pleased. "Hold your tongue Bombur. Do not speak of such things, you make us all feel worse than what we already are!"

Bombur snapped his mouth shut and began grumbling to himself. Thorin stood up and gave the order to move on. Regretful that they had been denied a few more hours rest, they packed up the campsite and continued down the path. The rain still poured down, but the thick canopy above them was obviously putting up a good fight, as the ground was only slightly damp rather than muddy and soaked. Thorin was determined to push on, and so the group would follow him, step after weary step.

"I see something!" Balin exclaimed, pointing at the trees. Everyone turned, anxious to see something other than a dreary darkness. Tiny golden lights were shining against the black, not at all sinister like the staring eyes of the unknown creatures skulking around, but comforting and familiar.

Cautiously, they left the path behind to go towards the lights. The lights seemed to dance before their eyes, and then more appeared.

"It's like in my dream!" Bombur exclaimed. "There is food for us where those lights are!" The dwarf eagerly began to waddle towards the lights, but both Bifur and Bofur had to restrain him, explaining that it would not be a wise choice. Bombur pathetically whimpered and wriggled desperately, hungry beyond controlling.

"Bombur, control yourself! Damn your stomach!" Thorin said angrily. Evelyn gulped, and stayed silent for his sake. She placed a calming hand on his shoulder. He looked at her, and squeezed her hand reassuringly, managing a gentle smile.

"Why don't we at least go and see what the lights are?" Bilbo suggested. "We could be really quiet, and if it is dangerous we can just go back to the path and forget about the lights,"

Everyone pondered over this. "It sounds like a plan to me," Dori said.

_**Get excited for the next chapter! ELVES ELVES GLORIOUS ELVES! Personally, I'm a little bit of a dwarf-girl but who doesn't love a bit of Thranduil?!**_


	18. Interrupting the Feasts

_**I just felt like saying to you guys that I really do appreciate you all taking the time to read my story and encourage me to continue on with it. I've had a rough few weeks which are mainly the reason as to why I've delayed in updating. It was a bit hard for me to write because of what's been happening, but yeah, thanks again guys, your kind reviews really light up my world 3 3 3**_

**Chapter 18: Interrupting the Feasts**

Minds made up finally, the company edged closer to the strange little lights. They seemed to glow brighter as they approached them, seemingly tempting them to come closer and closer until they could touch them. But it was proved to not be an easy task, as the thick undergrowth and vines hanging from the trees proved to be a great hindrance to them all. Despite the lights, they could not see where roots stuck out of the ground or thorny bushes grew, so the occasional swear or thump became normal.

When they approached the lights, they realised that, like Bombur had said, they were actually lanterns. The lanterns glowed brightly, throwing into relief a large clearing. In the clearing there was a long wooden table. Seated around the table upon intricately carved chairs padded with red velvet cushions were elvish-looking folk. They wore colours of the woodland and they spoke with silvery voices.

What drew their attention more than the fair folk was the large array of food and drink set upon the tabletop. Delicious smells wafted to their nostrils, teasing their monstrously growling stomachs.

"Venture carefully," Thorin muttered to them all. He was certainly not one to lose his guard in the presence of that which he hated, let alone place his trust in a bunch of tree-shagging elves. To keep his mind at peace, he kept a reasonably firm grip on the hilt of Orcrist, and an even firmer grip on Evelyn's small hand. She thought about complaining that he was crushing her hand, but if his mind would be at ease, so be it.

Suddenly, as soon as the first dwarf stepped into the clearing, a great whooshing sound and something like a burst of wind swept over the clearing, and the lights went out, and the feast, along with its guests, disappeared like smoke. There was a yell of surprise as they were plunged into darkness again.

"Curses! Tricked by forest folk!" Dwalin yelled angrily, taking one step forward and accidently trodding on someone's foot.

"Mind where you're walking!" Ori squeaked, wincing as Dwalin's boot lifted off his own.

Thorin sighed angrily. First he had been betrayed by what he thought had been his ally, now hoodwinked by a bunch of stupid elves. This was not turning out to be a good day for him.

"We'll camp here for now," He said to them roughly, throwing his weapons on the ground in a huff. "Nori, take first watch. No talking, not in this place,"

Not wanting to make Thorin even angrier than what he already was, everyone settled down In a rather hurried fashion and closed their mouths tightly, determined to not let even the smallest syllable escape their lips. They hadn't even bothered to unfurl bedrolls, as the ground was strangely soft there, not at all wet from the rain, which had ceased a little while ago.

Thorin rolled over, and someone gave a surprised but quiet squeal. "What in Durin's…" He rolled the other way and sat up.

"Thorin, was that really necessary?" Evelyn said indignantly, rubbing her arm which had been squished by him.

"It wasn't intentional," Thorin replied, equally indignant, then he softened his voice as he remembered his instructions. "Apologies _azbadu men_,"

Evelyn smiled, and snuggled closer to him. She didn't bother to ask what Thorin had said, she loved the pure sound of his language on his lips. It had its own beauty, she could not describe it. She made a mental note to ask either Thorin or perhaps even Bifur to teach her how to speak Khuzdul.

"Look! Over there!" Nori suddenly cried, springing to his feet.

Thorin looked up at the dwarf. "I thought I said no talking!" Sometimes, it was like no one listened.

Dori shook his head anxiously, getting to his feet and standing beside his brother. "No, no, look over there! The lanterns are back!" At this, everyone sprang to their feet with as much energy as though they had indulged in a blissful and long sleep. True to Dori's words, the lanterns had come back, closer than before, twinkling with an air of childish mischief.

As they approached the lanterns and set their eyes upon the food-laden table surrounded by woodland folk, Thorin held up a hand to halt them in their tracks. "Let us not be too hasty this time. Mister Baggins shall go and speak to them, alone,"

"Why me?" Bilbo asked, frowning.

Thorin turned to him, a slight smirk playing on his lips. "You are the burglar. Here is your chance to show us how good your talents really are,"

"Thorin…" Evelyn said warningly. "Take it easy on him,"

"He signed the contract, he knows what he is expected of," Thorin said simply, almost ignoring Evelyn. She rolled her eyes slightly, and chose to not respond. There was no use arguing with him after all. Sometimes she wondered who was more stubborn.

Bilbo grumbled a bit to himself before stepping into the clearing cautiously, being as quiet as he could, which was very quiet. But as soon as he came fully into the clearing, the lanterns were extinguished immediately, and the table, feast, elves and all, disappeared once more. Darkness flooded through again.

"Oh for the love of Valar!" Thorin said exasperatedly. "Where's the Halfling?"

"Where's Bilbo?" Both Evelyn and Bofur cried, spinning in random directions, searching for him.

Fili appeared, clutching the lapel of Bilbo's jacket tightly as if he would run away the minute he was released. "I found him! But he's gone like Bombur, babbling on about food,"

Evelyn seized Bilbo and shook him. "Bilbo, stop talking madness! Wake up please!"

"We must get to the feast!" Bilbo said, ignorant to the poor girl. "There's so much food! We must hurry before it all goes!"

"_SHAZARA_!" Thorin bellowed. Everyone fell silent at once. "Everyone, we shall camp here! Nori, finish your watch. No moving around, just sleep where you stand,"

Despite wanting to go to Thorin, Evelyn could not possibly find her way to him, and so she dropped down and lay on her side, slightly miserable.

"Who is next to me?" She whispered.

There was a shuffling noise. "Just me lass," It was Bofur. She drew some comfort from his voice.

"Who's on my side?" Oin asked, fumbling around blindly in the darkness, accidently patting Evelyn's face.

"Oin!" She said, letting out a small giggle.

His hand retreated as if it had been stung by one of the bees from Beorn's pasture. "Sorry Evelyn,"

"That's alright," She said reassuringly. She closed her eyes, and she sighed quietly, trying to force herself to get some rest. All the excitement that had resulted from the strange woodland feasts had tired her out. All she wanted was some peace and quiet, but she wasn't going to be getting any.

"Er… Thorin…?" Nori's voice sounded out hesitantly from somewhere nearby.

He groaned. "What is it now Nori?"

"The lights… they're back," He said. Evelyn groaned and sat up. Not more lights. Were they going to be chasing magical feasts and glowing lanterns for the rest of their days? She certainly hoped not. They were yet to even escape from this darn forest.

"What in Durin's name…" Thorin said gruffly, his voice trailing away. Evelyn could tell he wasn't impressed with the teasing lanterns. "Get up everyone," The groans that came in response gave the same impression. They were all tiring quickly. Lanterns were now probably their least favourite thing in the world.

As they ventured closer, the sweet sound of harps being played reached their ears. It was quite beautiful, but it had a somewhat haunting quality, influenced by the darkness of Mirkwood. As they came upon a third clearing, they noticed that this feast was particularly more grand than its predecessors. At the head of the table there was an elf wearing robes of silver and a crown of golden leaves upon his fair head. Before anyone could intervene, Thorin stepped into the midst of the feast, mouth open to release a few carefully chosen phrases.

Utter chaos followed. The lights were doused immediately, and the woodland was filled with their cries and shouts. Bilbo, during the confusion, woke from the bewitchment, and was confused out of his poor mind, wondering what on earth was going on. He could not see a thing, for strange smoke and ash clouded what little vision he had.

Confused shouts from his companions filled his ears.

There was a particularly horrified scream from Evelyn as she felt something hoist her into the air and grip her waist tightly.

"THORIN!" She cried desperately. There was no response.

That was the last thing Bilbo heard as he huddled against a tree and the shouts of his companions faded away slowly until all there was to be heard was bitter and lonely silence.

_**Very sorry for no appearance from Thranduil, but there will be a handsome elf (somewhat) in the next chapter, I promise!**_

_**And on another note, 'azbadu men' means 'my lady' (formal) :-)**_


	19. Spiders Giant Ones

_**I quite enjoyed writing this chapter because I like how Bilbo gets a chance to prove himself and show the spiders what a cunning little hobbit he is!**_

**Chapter 19: Spiders… Giant Ones**

"My poor friends," Bilbo said miserably, huddled up against the tree with his legs out straight before him. "Whisked away by something horrible," He then lifted his head up. "I must go and find them,"

Feeling braver than he actually realised, he began to stand up, and his hand brushed up against something strong and sticky, like some strange sort of rope. When he tried to stand up, he realised with horror that his legs had been bound with the same sticky substance. He looked up, and eight pairs of white eyes stared straight back at him, unblinking. It was a spider, and a giant one at that.

It clicked its pincers together in a frustrated manner as the hobbit wriggled for all he was worth. Bilbo kicked his legs, managing to freeing himself of the sticky stuff. The spider shrunk away suddenly as its prey stood up, then it charged forward. Bilbo pointed his sword forward and shut his eyes tight, ready for the poisoned appendages to clamp down upon him.

But instead, the spider did not see the blade pointed at it, and it ran straight into it, the Elvish metal sinking into its head with a horrible squelching sound. It gave a pitiful shriek before it pulled itself away from the sword, tumbling onto its back, its legs curling down towards its body like a dead fly, quite dead.

Bilbo opened his eyes and gasped in shock. He had killed something without the aid of the dwarves. He looked down at his sword, and smiled at it with the kind of fondness he usually reserved for his possessions back home, like his garden or his beloved books.

"What a trusty sword," He said to himself, staring at the blade. "And yet you have no name… Sting… yes, I quite like that name! I shall call you Sting,"

He replaced his sword, now dubbed Sting, in his sheath with a little extra care, put his hand in his pocket, and retrieved from it the magic ring he had found and run off with in Gollum's cave in the Misty Mountains. He slipped it on his finger, and he instantly became invisible. It was time to find his friends and free them from the clutches of the evil spiders.

There was a dramatic change in the surroundings as the trees became barer and barer until there was not a single leaf on any branch as Bilbo ventured further through Mirkwood. Instead, thick and sinister looking webs adorned the branches, and odd lumpy pale things hung from the branches. The forest floor was littered with dry, dead leaves and pale sticks that looked like bones. Feeling slightly queasy, the hobbit looked up. Above, the sky was grey and gloomy looking. Bilbo sighed, for he had missed the sky dearly. Even it was gloomy as it was now, it was still nice to see it all the same.

He stopped abruptly in his tracks as he caught sight of two spiders sitting in a tree, spindly legs tucked close to their furry bodies. He shrunk back silently, forgetting that he was invisible as they began to speak in the Common Tongue, raspy voices emitting from the mouths concealed by their pincers.

"They put up a struggle din' they?" The first one said.

"Oh yes, but we got 'em in the end!" The other one replied. A horrible wheezing voice came from them, and Bilbo deduced that they were laughing.

They cackled for a little while. A third spider appeared, slightly bigger than the first two.

"We should eat 'em soon. They taste funny if they 'ang too long," It said, clicking its pincers a few times.

"Nah they don'. You're talkin' bone piles as always," The first one said hoarsely, turning away slightly in a dismissive gesture.

A fourth spider crawled up the trunk of the tree. "I'm so 'ungry, I could eat all dem dwarves!" It said in a squeaky voice. More cackling followed.

Bilbo had heard enough to know that his friends were here somewhere, trapped under nasty circumstances. He stepped forward quietly, noting to himself to be extra quiet, as he knew that he himself was hidden, but his footsteps could still be heard and probably seen. He didn't even know if his shadow was concealed as well, but he certainly hoped it was, for a shadow without a body would surely cause suspicion.

In order to free his friends, he would have to draw the spiders away from them. Feeling exceptionally brave, with a little bit of foolish on the side, he bent down and retrieved a stone from the ground. Taking aim, he threw it at the spiders. It hit the trunk of the tree they sat on, rebounding and hitting one of the spider's legs. It jumped and scuttled backwards. Before it could figure out where the stone had come from, Bilbo picked up another stone and threw it. This time, his aim was true, and it smacked into one of the spider's many eyes.

It gave a shrill shriek and toppled off the tree onto its back, squirming pitifully. Chaos ensued, and Bilbo took the opportunity to have some fun. The spiders began crawling down from the trees, searching for the unseen attacker. As they did, Bilbo began to sing.

_Old fat spider spinning in a tree_

_Old fat spider can't see me_

_Attercop, attercop_

_Won't you stop_

_Stop your spinning and look for me?_

_Old Tomnoddy, all big body_

_Old Tomnoddy can't spy me_

_Attercop, attercop_

_Down you drop_

_You'll never catch me up your tree!_

For a song that was made up on the spot, it was quite a clever little song, and it did not impress the spiders, who weren't used to being so… vulnerable. They clicked their pincers together furiously, scuttling about trying to hunt down the assailant, but Bilbo was too quick, darting from place to place with the speed of a little mouse.

After a while, Bilbo quietly doubled back and snuck back the way he came, leaving the spiders to their confusions . It was then that he had no idea where his friends were being held captive. He had precious little time to look for them before the spiders gave up and returned to finish them off, so he must be quick. Not entirely watching where he was going, he took two steps forward and bumped into one of the strange looking things hanging from the trees.

He would have moved on, but he heard a noise from within it. He thought about knocking on it, but he would surely become trapped like a fly, so he leaned closer.

"Hello?" He said hesitantly. The funny shaped thing wriggled in response. He then realised that his friends were wrapped up in cocoons of sticky web.

The hobbit drew Sting from its scabbard and carefully hacked at the web. The Elvish blade made short work of the stuff, and one final swipe sent the occupant of the cacoon tumbling out of the bottom onto the ground.

"Bilbo! How in Durin's name did you manage to find us?" Kili asked, astounded, as he scrambled to his feet, paying no heed to the stray webbing tangled in his hair and clothes.

"Now is not the time for stories!" Bilbo said, bouncing on the balls of his feet in anxiety. "We must free the others before the spiders return!"

Kili, like his uncle, wasn't usually the one to take orders from a Halfling, but this was a matter of life and death, so he scrambled for his sword, which was still in his scabbard – he had been unable to reach it and free himself seeing as he had been encased in tight webbing – and began to cut open the remaining cocoons. As Bofur and Bombur were freed, the spiders returned. It was hard to deduce facial expressions from the creatures, but even they could tell they looked absolutely outraged.

"Nasty creature!" One of the larger spiders said triumphantly. "Now that we can see you, we can tear you limb from limb!"

"Quick Kili!" Bilbo said, waking him from his stupor. Kili freed the remaining dwarves as Bilbo fended off the spiders. He had no such trouble doing so as the spiders were too afraid of Sting. Even they knew it was an Elvish sword, and would be no match for it. Any spider that was foolish enough to charge forward was quickly despatched.

Fili joined his brother, a look of extreme worry on his face. "Uncle and Evelyn are missing,"

* * *

"The nasty creature freed our prisoners, but they won't get these two!" The spider cackled, clicking its pincers with delight.

As soon as Bilbo had begun to free the dwarves, this particular spider, who was by some margin a bit more cunning than the others, had immediately dragged the closest two cocoons away from the frenzy to a more quieter place away from the others.

Inside one of the two cacoons, Evelyn was suffering. The constricting space she was trapped in was making it very difficult to breathe. She could barely move, and she was terrified.

There was a scuffling sound nearby, and she was rolled over. She had been lying on her side, now she lay on her back. Something heavy pressed down on her stomach, and she realised that it was the spider's foot. It was keeping her still so she wouldn't move away. Her breathing quickened, and she waited for those horrible pincers to sink into her and end her.

But instead, she heard the sound of many feet charging towards her, and a horrible screech followed. After that there was a loud thump as the spider fell down onto Evelyn, crushing her with its lifeless body. She wriggled for all she was worth, but the dead spider would not budge.

After a little longer time passed during which Evelyn found herself starting to lose focus, the spider was finally lifted off her. There was a loud ripping sound as the web was sliced apart carefully. The tip of someone's sword appeared, and a pair of hands came down and ripped apart the rest of the webs as the sword retreated.

She gave a loud rattling gasp as she found herself free, and she sat up quickly, gulping air like water. The dwarves all stood around her, looking quite disarrayed with webs tangled in their hair and clothes and beards. The only person who was not coated in web was Bilbo. On the other hand, he looked quite pleased with himself, clutching his sword happily.

Bofur held out his hand and Evelyn took it. He hoisted her to her feet. "You alright lass?"

"Fine, I think," She said shakily. "Where's Thorin?"

Before anyone could answer, there was a loud grunt and Bofur stepped aside. There stood Thorin, webs tangled in his mane of hair.

"Where in Durin's name is…" He said in a frantic voice. His eyes widened as he saw her. He charged forward and yanked her into his arms, squeezing her tightly and almost lifting her off her feet.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" He asked, his voice muffled due to the fact that his face was buried in her shoulder and hair.

"Fine apart from being squeezed to death right now," Evelyn said hoarsely as she gingerly wrapped her own arms around him.

After a while, Thorin relinquished his iron grip on her, carefully inspected her for injuries, then deemed her fit. He turned to the others, and scowled at the grins on their faces.

"Come on, let's get out of this foul place," Thorin said gruffly.

The dwarves drew their weapons after checking that they still remained in their sheathes. Evelyn was slightly downcast as she realised that her bow, given to her by Gandalf after inspecting the troll cave back in Trollshaw Forest, was not with her. Her daggers were there, so she was not unarmed, but she felt a bit strange without her bow. No one seemed to notice, but she wasn't about to make a huge fuss. As long as she still had her daggers ,she was content. But she felt extremely clumsy. First she had broken her father's bow in Trollshaw Forest, now she had lost this one in a forest full of bloodthirsty spiders. Could this day get any worse?!

The company then marched in a tight group away from the worst of the spider webs and the bodies of the dead creatures, hoping that they would never have to face such ghastly creatures again.

There was the sound of leaves being ruffled and stepped upon. It seemed to come from all around them, and everyone turned in circles, trying to find the source of the noise. A slender figure clad in green and silver clothing suddenly slid acrobatically into the clearing, bow in hand and an arrow nocked to it. The elf pointed it straight at Thorin's head, and he stared angrily at him.

"Do not think I won't kill you dwarf," The elf snapped as Thorin raised his sword slightly.

Many more elves leapt into their midst, all wielding bows and poised for a fight. They were surrounded.

_**The next chapter is going to be good cuz I think we all know who is going to be in it!**_


	20. King of the Woodlands

_**Hello again. I had to post this chapter because I got so excited writing it... no idea why but oh well ;-)**_

**Chapter 20: King of the Woodlands**

The elves closed in on the company and quickly relieved them of their weapons, snatching them away with delicate fingers. All of the company, even Evelyn, had looks of anger on their faces, not at all pleased to be at the mercy of elves. Evelyn had liked the elves from Rivendell well enough as she was indebted to one of the most important ones – at this she remembered the elf child Skye – but she wasn't so sure about these elves just yet. But for the moment, it was hostility.

"Who do you think you are?" Thorin snarled, eyeballing the elf who had appeared first, and who had threatened him.

"I know perfectly well who I am dwarf," The elf shot back. He did not say anymore after that, nor did he bother to answer any of the other insults the other dwarves shot at him.

The woodland elves ushered them forward, herding them like cattle. Evelyn looked around, and realised that Bilbo was not among them. In fact, there was no trace of the hobbit anywhere. She wanted to try and find him, but the elves were having none of it, and continued ushering them forward.

Through the trees they went until they came upon the entrance to a particularly cave. Evelyn frowned. She did not expect elves to reside in caves, thinking that caves were rather more meant for dark dwelling creatures, such as trolls. It was because of trolls that she was not so fond of caves.

She was soon proven wrong as the cave opened up into a massive kingdom. The high roof of the cavern was supported by magnificent columns of white rock, and bridges carved out of the same stone stretched across the various underground streams that trickled gently through the cavern, creating a gentle echo. Lanterns, similar to the ones that had tricked them at the feasts in Mirkwood, hung from the ceiling, and small patches of sunlight escaped through holes in the roof.

As the company were forced to walk single file as the bridges they needed to cross were quite narrow, Evelyn could not help but stare in wonder at the huge network of stairs, bridges and walkways built in the kingdom. She found this place quite pretty despite the fact that she was currently a prisoner. Evelyn also noted how all the elves she saw were clothed in colours of olive and brown. It must have been some sort of tradition.

The company were brought to an immediate and sudden halt before a large door with gold patterns embellishing the smooth wood. The elf leading the party – the same one who had threatened Thorin – strode forward and exchanged a few words with one of the guards standing stock still to the side of the door in what they presumed to be Elvish, their native tongue.

The guard nodded after a small moment passed, and he pushed the golden handle of the door down. It clicked, and the door swung open gently without a single creak emitting from the hinges.

Floor-to-ceiling windows decorated every inch of the left and right walls. A moss green rug trailed a path from the door straight ahead to the other end of the room. At the end of the grand room there was a large throne with what appeared to be the antlers of some oversized species of deer decorating the armrests and the back of the chair.

Seated upon the throne was an elf that the company assumed to be the elven king. Evelyn recognized him as the grand looking elf who had been spotted at the feast shortly before their capture by the spiders. He was tall with spindly fingers, a head of sleek golden hair and heavy set eyebrows. Royalty appeared to suit the elven king well, as he gave of an aura of someone who knew how to govern and lead people without a particularly large amount of effort. The way in which he had draped himself ever so casually upon his throne emphasized that aura.

"King Thranduil," The elf leading the group said, a slight inclination of his blonde head to follow. Evelyn was secretly surprised by the lack of devotion that a king usually was showed. "We found them lurking where the spiders were,"

Thranduil nodded and slowly stood up, descending the stairs that led to his throne with grace. "Thank you my son," The elf, who was now recognized as a prince, stepped aside.

Thranduil stepped forward until he was only a short distance away from the company. His eyes raked over them, lingering on Thorin for a moment longer than the rest. He stared defiantly at the elven king, determined to not show any sign of submitting to the will of the elves.

"State your name and business in Mirkwood. Time is ebbing away as we speak and I have other things to attend to," Thranduil said in a loud and clear voice. Evelyn noted the strange tone in his voice. Was he… bored?

No one amongst the company gave much clue that they were willing to speak to the king, let alone give away details of their quest to him. Evelyn regarded the elves with no such ill will that the dwarves possessed – however she felt a tad hostile for their less than warm invite to the kingdom – and she took it upon herself to extract her hand from Thorin's strong grip and step forward and take responsibility, a task she had not ever expected to be burdened by.

Thranduil's eyes followed the movement as she took three steps forward, closing a medium-sized portion of the distance between her and the king. Clearing her throat, she looked up with more confidence than she actually felt.

"My name is Evelyn Lieflin, and this is my company," She said. Thorin stared at her as she said the words 'my company'. "We are but lost and weary travellers in search of-"

Thranduil cut across her before she could continue fabricating the fake tale. "Yes, as fascinating as your transparent story is, I did not ask for you to be brought here so I could listen to lies,"

Evelyn closed her mouth and stared down, feeling slightly humiliated. Thorin however would not back down so easily and he strode forward to stand beside his beloved.

"I am Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thrain, son of Thror, who was once King under the Mountain," He said in a clear voice, drawing himself up to his full height. He looked quite impressive despite the thick strands of cobweb still tangled in his mane of hair that gave him a somewhat dishevelled look. "This is my company and we are on an important quest. A quest that I might add does not concern elves such as you," He added the last sentence with cold contempt.

Thranduil surveyed Thorin with an indifferent expression, no words obviously affected him. "As it so happens, I am already aware of what this little quest of yours entails. You seek that which would bestow upon you the right to rule,"

"I seek to obtain what is mine and what is ours," Thorin said coldly, wishing that he had his sword right now so he could behead the stupid elf.

A ghost of a cold smile flickered across Thranduil's face. "A quest to reclaim a homeland and slay the dragon that lives in it. Such a dangerous task for such… _devoted _people,"

"Indeed our quest is difficult," Evelyn stated, recovering from before. "But it is achievable nonetheless,"

This time the smile came. For some reason, the cold smile did not suit him. "Such bravery from such a delicate person is duly noted. However I cannot play child games and ignore certain laws that you and your company have chosen to break. Disturbing my people three times during their innocent merry-making is something that cannot go unnoticed,"

Thorin looked positively outraged at this. "If you're referring to the blatant fashion in which your people chose to hoodwink us with petty games, then you can shove that idea right up your-"

A cold laugh swept through the room, sending unwanted chills up Evelyn's spine. "Insulting me won't do you, or your friends much good, Thorin Oakenshield. Guards," At this word, two elves clad in silver armour clutching spears materialized out of what seemed to be nowhere. "Take our 'guests' down to the dungeons. Perhaps there they will have some time there to conjure up some respect,"

_**If you guys were curious as to why Thranduil was being so rude and cold, he was just very annoyed because of what the company had done in relation to them disturbing his people at their feasts! I mean, come on you would be annoyed too! :-D**_


	21. Conversing with Kings

_**Before we begin with the chapter, I would just like to say something.**_

_**I am all for constructive and polite criticism in the reviews you guys give me, but I am not too keen on impolite and rude comments on my story.**_

_**You are all very aware of the fact that this is my first fanfiction story, and while I am quite happy with it so far, I get easily annoyed when people decide to insult me, more specifically call my OC 'stupid'.**_

_**It gets to me when people are rude about these sort of things. I'm trying my best here and I don't appreciate people calling my creations 'stupid'. So just in the future, can you please keep any nasty things to yourself.**_

_**I'm not being rude to any of you, I thank you all for the kind reviews, but I would rather that 'kaia' please be a bit nicer.**_

_**Sorry for the rant, I'll let you get on with reading the chapter. **_

**Chapter 21: Conversing with Kings**

After the majority of the company were locked away behind iron bars, Thorin and Evelyn were the only ones who had not been encaged. It was a wonder the elf didn't quail under Thorin's ice-cold glance.

"Do you wish to remain together or would you rather be separated?" The guard asked as he gestured to the cell they were standing in front of.

Thorin opened his mouth to utter something extremely rude, but Evelyn beat him to it. "Together, if you please. I have no desire to be separated from him,"

The guard shrugged, and he opened the cell door. Rather than shove them inside, the guard decided to be a bit more courteous and stepped back, holding the door open for them. Thorin was tempted to try and disarm the guard and free his company, but he was not stupid, and so he stepped reluctantly inside, Evelyn close behind.

After the door was shut and locked, the guard walked away. Evelyn sat down on the ground, which was not at all hard and rough, but not soft either. She leant her head against the wall of the cell, legs tucked up against her body and held there by her arms.

"What are we going to do Thorin? We're locked in a cell for who knows how long and Bilbo is nowhere to be seen," Evelyn said exasperatedly.

Thorin sat down beside her and put his arm around her. "I'm sure that the hobbit is on his way to free us right now Evelyn, you'll see," She nodded and managed a brave smile. She looked up slightly and she began to pick the remaining strands of web out of Thorin's hair, letting the limp strands fall to the floor.

He was technically lying for her sake. Although he had apologized to the hobbit whilst standing atop the Carrock and accepted him into the company, he still wasn't ready to put his complete faith and trust in him.

Evelyn's eyes drooped slightly, and she tried to stifle a yawn. She had not slept for quite a while, and had lost count of the amount of time that had passed since her last rest, not counting the brief minutes spent between chasing the bloody lanterns.

Thorin was not deceived. "You're tired. Go to sleep for a while,"

"Will you watch over me?" Evelyn asked, looking at him.

He smiled. "Always,"

She smiled, and closed her eyes, leaning her head against Thorin's shoulder, content to regain lost sleep. But, unfortunately for her, she was to not get any sleep, as she heard both her name and Thorin's name whispered through the bars of the cell.

"Bilbo?" Thorin whispered with disbelief. Even though she would rather sleep and wish that people would leave her alone for a while and press their problems on others, she reluctantly opened her eyes. Standing outside their cell was indeed Bilbo Baggins, looking a bit worse for wear with his clothes filthy and his face matted with dirt. There were a couple of bits of cobweb in his hair as well, which was no surprise. One would not simply venture into the lair of a pack of giant spiders and escape unscathed.

"How on this earth did you…" Evelyn began to ask, but her voice trailed away. She was speechless to see the hobbit standing there. He was defying all odds it seemed.

"No time to explain," Bilbo said hurriedly. "I have a magic ring with me that will allow to slip by the guards unnoticed,"

"How did you come by a magic ring, if I might ask?" Thorin asked, his voice riddled with wonder. Magic rings, he heard, were extremely rare, and the only rings he ever laid eyes on were the ones hand crafted by the dwarves in Erebor, but they weren't magical, although he doubted this seeing as his own grandfather had been bewitched by the gold of Erebor.

Bilbo looked a tad guilty at this question, and he shuffled side to side a little bit before answering. "I found it in the Misty Mountains, if you must know, but that's not important right now," There was something he was not telling them, they could tell.

"Do you know a way out of here?" Evelyn asked in a hushed voice.

He looked pleased as she asked this. "As a matter of fact, I went sneaking around for a while, and I noticed that the main stream that runs through the kingdom goes straight through it and out!"

"So are you suggesting we miraculously procure the keys from the guards, free ourselves and swim up the stream?" Thorin asked icily. He was not fond of swimming, and he knew perfectly well that certain other dwarves, like Bombur for example, could not swim at all.

Bilbo shook his head. "As appealing as that idea sounds, no I have thought of a better one. The kingdom brings in barrels of wine from time to time. When the barrels are empty they push them into the stream and they float away to be forgotten. They usually dump them in one go, so there will be a lot of them to be dumped. I was thinking that if we snuck off in time, we could get into the barrels and float away down the stream without the elves being the any wiser!"

"Brilliant plan Bilbo!" Evelyn said excitedly, beaming at him. "What do you think Thorin?"

He grinned genuinely. "Yes, fantastic idea Mister Baggins. How soon can you get us out of these damn cells?"

"Well, I heard from one of the guards that the barrels were going to be dumped tomorrow night, so I will free you just before then!" Bilbo said.

There was the sound of approaching footsteps, and Bilbo managed to give them a quick wave and a reassuring, brave smile before slipping the magic ring on his finger and disappearing instantly. They only just made out the sound of his retreating footsteps padding against the stone floor as a guard appeared in their sights.

"What's going on here?" He asked.

They made themselves look innocent. "Sitting here talking isn't a crime here is it?" Thorin said bitterly.

The guard narrowed his eyes for a bit, then shrugged, retreating away.

Evelyn sighed. "Do you think I could get some sleep now?"

Thorin stayed silent, thinking mockingly. "Hmm yes I think so,"

She giggled feebly, and finally she was able to get some sleep.

* * *

Over the time in which Evelyn slept while Thorin watched over her, night had come and gone. He had succumbed to a very small nap in the early hours of the morning, but even though he woke late in the next day, Evelyn was still sound asleep. During the time that had passed, she had transitioned from leaning against his shoulder to resting her head in his lap. His fingers ever so gently twirled strands of her hair between them. As he did this, he smiled gently, looking down at a person who could be so fierce when she wanted to be and was now so angelic and peaceful looking.

Approaching footsteps sounded, and the dwarf gently shook her shoulder. "Evelyn, wake up,"

"King Thranduil requests an audience with you," A voice said. As he appeared, they realised that it was the same guard from earlier on. However, when both of them made to stand, the guard held up a hand for them to stop. "Just her,"

Evelyn widened her eyes in surprise. "Me? Why me?"

Thorin scowled at the guard. "She's not going anywhere without me,"

"King Thranduil's orders," The guard said simply, leaning slightly against the spear he carried.

Thorin opened his mouth to speak otherwise, but Evelyn cut across him. "Fine, I'll go,"

"No you will not-" Thorin began to say but he was interrupted.

"He won't hurt me," She said reassuringly. "I'll be fine, trust me,"

He sighed. "I don't like you going anywhere alone,"

"I'll be fine, trust me," She repeated, her voice a little more insistent this time.

He didn't reply, but he took threw dirty glance at the guard, obviously daring him to let her come to harm so he could have an excuse to beat him senseless, before nodding once. Taking this as a 'yes', Evelyn pecked him on the forehead and she stood up. The guard took out a set of keys and unlocked the door. She stepped out of the cell and gave Thorin a reassuring glance before the guard led her away out of sight of the dungeons.

After a short time, the guard halted in his steps and turned to her, suddenly looking a bit awkward, a look that did not suit the proud elven race. Evelyn had never seen, apart from the young elf girl Skye back in Rivendell, a young elf. She guessed that this elf was barely into adulthood, as he wasn't extremely tall. His hair was a dark brown, and he had it tied back in a ponytail. His slanted eyes matched his hair.

"My orders are I have to bound your hands too," He said, holding up a bit of silver rope.

Feeling a bit strange, she smiled nervously. "If it's your orders, you'd be best to carry them out. I don't mind," She held out wrists with a cheerful air, trying to make the guard feel as comfortable. He didn't tie the rope too tight, and she was grateful for that.

"Sorry, I'm new to this whole thing. I only just got recruited a few days ago for the king's guard," He explained as he gestured for them to move on.

"How long have you been training?" She asked, trying to keep her mind off other things.

He drew himself up, looking quite proud. "Nearly 50 years. I've been waiting for this opportunity my whole life, and now that I've got it, I'm not quite sure how to act,"

She nearly spluttered at how casually he said 'nearly 50 years', but then again he was an elf, and they did not age like she did. "Well, it sounds like you well deserved this," She said.

He nodded and grinned. "It's like a dream come true, being able to serve and protect the king with my life,"

She raised an eyebrow slightly. "Isn't it also dangerous? To protect the king with your life?"

He shrugged. "As long as the king lives, I am content,"

She looked down in thought. She never really heard of someone – besides herself – who would be so willing to give their life to protect someone else.

The guard halted abruptly outside the doors to the throne room. "I'm supposed to wait here and escort you back after he's finished talking. Good luck I suppose,"

She smiled. "Er, I didn't catch your name..?"

"Arvellon," He said.

She grinned. "Thanks Arvellon,"

Leaving him at the entrance to the throne, Evelyn held out a slightly shaking hand and pushed open the door.

She found the room surprisingly empty, save for two guards standing attentive on either side of the throne. Thranduil himself was not sitting upon his throne, but rather conversing quietly with a red-headed elf off to the side, hands clasped behind his back in a formal manner.

The elf's eyes flickered past Thranduil's shoulder to look at Evelyn. The elven king noticed this, and turned. After a small moment of him staring at her, he turned back to the elf, who Evelyn realised was a woman, and nodded once. She bowed slightly and retreated as Thranduil turned his back on him.

"I'm surprised Thorin Oakenshield did not attempt to accompany you," Thranduil said as he approached her, looking quite impressive and intimidating at the same time.

Evelyn stood her ground and stood straight, trying to look as dignified as possible despite the fact that her hands were bound in front of her. "He did want to. He didn't want to let me go alone,"

"A noble act, it seemed," Thranduil noted.

Evelyn wasn't so sure if she really liked him that much. While Lord Elrond had been distinctly kind and polite towards both her and the company, Thranduil was very cold and even a bit hostile. Either the whole disturbing-people-at-their-merrymaking-while-lost- in-Mirkwood business must have really upset him, or he wasn't what some might have called a 'people person'.

"So you sent for me, I believe," Evelyn said after a moment of heavy silence. She was tiring of the way in which the elven king appeared to be scrutinizing her. It made her feel very comfortable.

"Yes, I was merely curious to learn of the part that you play in this quest. Surely a woman of your… kind, shall we say, would have no interest in adventures like the one Thorin Oakenshield is conducting?" Thranduil said as he turned away and paced to his right slowly, hands still clasped behind his back.

"'My kind'?" Evelyn repeated. She found this insulting. Time to give him a taste of his own medicine. "Permit me to be so straightforward, but I do not really belong to any 'kind', as you so bluntly put it,"

A smirk crossed the elven king's face. "Aah yes. Forgive me for not being specific. Part Halfling, part Man, if I'm not mistaken,"

She narrowed her eyes slightly, trying not to show how surprised she was. Was it that obvious? "You're not mistaken. But how did you know?"

"Being me has its… enhancements, shall we say. But you have avoided my question. How did you manage to involve yourself in such a journey?"

If the circumstances had been different, and the person she would have been speaking to had _not _been Thranduil, Evelyn surely would have launched in a full account of the journey from meeting the dwarves in Bilbo Baggins' house – battling trolls, being poisoned by Orcs, going one-on-one with Azog the Defiler, making friends with a Skin-Changer and falling in love in between – to where she was that minute. But seeing as the circumstances were not so pleasant, she wasn't about to do what had just been described.

"I've always wanted to see what it would be like to venture outside The Shire and go beyond places other hobbits have been. An adventure is what I needed, and I couldn't exactly refuse when thirteen dwarves plus a wizard turned up on Bil- er, I mean my doorstep one night," Evelyn explained shortly. She had nearly given Bilbo away.

Thranduil didn't seem to pick up on the hasty correction she had made. "And you believe that you are safe and protected?"

An odd question, no doubt. "I wouldn't believe for a second that any of the dwarves would hurt me or let me get hurt,"

"I find that hard to believe," Thranduil said.

Evelyn would have folded her arms if her hands had not been bound. "No offence, your Majesty, but what do you know about me that I don't?"

"I don't predict futures. I don't have time for those sorts of things. But something I do know is that if you continue on this adventure, something bad is going to happen,"

"And your point is…?" She asked coldly, tiring of this conversation. She wished Thorin was here right now. He would have definitely put the king in his place and told him to mind his manners, not so politely as that though.

The smirk widened. "I am offering you a chance, Miss Lieflin, to stay here and make my kingdom your home. I can guarantee it will be a lot safer than this little adventure you've involved yourself in,"

She widened her eyes with horror. "'Stay'?"

"I would never be tempted to turn a blind away to the slaughter of innocent people," Thranduil said. Evelyn could detect something in his voice that unsettled her. Was is hope? Did he want her to stay? While she reckoned that elves were fair and prosperous, she was finding this particular elf to be a bit sinister and a clear violation of what elves stood for.

Drawing herself up again, she cleared her throat before speaking. "Sorry to disappoint you, my lord, but my place is with the company, with Thorin. I would sooner be poisoned by an Orc again before abandoning my company,"

That wiped the smirk off his face quick smart. "You would refuse?" He whispered this, though his voice carried easily.

It was Evelyn's turn to smirk. "I would,"

"_Pe-channas_," Thranduil snarled in Elvish. "Tauriel," At this, the elf woman materialised out of nowhere at the king's side. "Take her back to her cell. I'm sure Thorin Oakenshield is missing her dearly and I've had enough wasting my time with criminals,"

"Yes, I'm sure he is, and I've had enough wasting my time with elves," Evelyn spat. She turned, and without waiting for the elf named Tauriel to move, she walked away out of the doors, around the corner and back the way she came.

"You know you're very brave doing that," Tauriel said after a moment, easily falling into step with Evelyn, long legs a benefit in the matter.

"Doing what?" Evelyn replied harshly. She wasn't in the mood for conversing with elves right now.

"Standing up to the king like that. I'm not sure I've seen anyone, apart from Legolas and perhaps myself on rare occasions, do such a thing," Tauriel said.

"Is he always like that?" Evelyn asked, forcing herself to be a bit more polite.

Tauriel stopped walking suddenly, a stony expression upon her face. She did not look at Evelyn as she spoke, but rather stared just past her shoulder absent-mindedly. "Well, as it so happens, he wasn't always like that, as far as stories go. It's the past that has turned him into what he is,"

Evelyn frowned. "What happened in the past?"

Tauriel looked at her finally. "It's a long story,"

"I'm willing to hear it if you have the time," Evelyn said, curiosity peaked. She encouraged her with a small smile. Tauriel returned it with a small smile of her own before turning to her right and taking a seat upon a bench. As Evelyn sat down next to her, she took a deep breath and began to speak.

"A long time ago," Tauriel began. "During the First Age, there was an elf named Thingol. He was a part of the Teleri, the third Elf clan to come to Middle Earth. He was highly respected by all and people considered him to be the High King of the Sindar and the Lord of Beleriand. He once fell in love with a Maia named Melian. Together they had a daughter named Luthien, who was said to be the fairest of all women in Middle Earth."  
"However, Luthien fell in love with a Man named Beren, and Thingol harboured a great dislike for Men. In order to prevent the marriage, he asked for Beren to retrieve for him a Silmaril from the crown of Morgoth, thinking the task impossible."  
"When the Silmaril was however, retrieved, he became obsessed with it. He hired a band of dwarves from Nogrod to protect it. The dwarves fell under the same spell, becoming equally obsessed over the jewel. In order to keep it for themselves, they slew Thingol. This is what many people believe is the beginning of the animosity between the race of Elves and Dwarves."

As Tauriel's voice died away, Evelyn had so many questions she wanted to ask. "So… Thingol died over a jewel?"

"In a sense, he did. Many people believed he had been bewitched by some horrible spell, but I doubt that the Silmaril was cursed," Tauriel said.

"What happened to his wife and daughter?" Evelyn asked.

Tauriel sighed. "Well, Melian left for Valinor after Thingol's death. Not much else is actually known about the rest of Melian's life. Her daughter Luthien, on the hand, actually helped her husband-to-be, Beren, to steal the Silmaril. Beren however died on completion of the task. Grieving beyond consolation, Luthien died soon after. She sought counsel with Manwe, who offered her two choices; to either dwell in Valimar with the Valar in bliss forever, or return to life with Beren on the condition that they both would be mortal, like Men."

Evelyn smiled. "She chose to come back, didn't she?"

Tauriel smiled in turn. "Correct. After returning to Middle Earth, they had a son Dior. She was given the Silmaril after some time had passed, and it was then passed on to her son after her death. It is well known amongst elves that their union as a mortal man and an elf was the first."

Evelyn let out a deep breath and sighed. "Wow,"

Tauriel nodded in agreement. "There's not much to describe their lives, no,"

They sat in silence for a little bit.

"So, Thranduil is so bitter towards us because of the dwarves that killed Thingol?" Evelyn asked tentatively.

Tauriel sighed. "In general, yes. What those dwarves did was essentially an act of selfishness,"

"But what do you think about the whole thing?" Evelyn asked curiously.

"Well, I suppose what those dwarves did was inexcusable. But they weren't really in their right minds. The Silmaril tempted them to insanity. That is what gold and precious gems can do to people. Tempt them and twist their minds until nothing else matters," Tauriel said seriously.

"It's strange to think how something like a bit of gold or a small jewel can drive people to madness," Evelyn said wondrously.

Tauriel nodded, again in agreement. "The world works in mysterious ways, I can tell you that much,"

"Yes, it does," Evelyn said. She was still pondering over Thranduil. Yes, past events had certainly taken a toll on him, but she was still a bit peeved at him for the rudeness he had shown towards her. She wasn't going to let up that easily.

"I suppose I should be going back to my cell," Evelyn said, standing up.

Tauriel stood up hurriedly. "If you like, I could speak to Thranduil about finding you somewhere more comfortable?"

"No thank you," Evelyn said politely, trying not to sound curt. "As long as I'm with Thorin I couldn't care if I'm sleeping on sharp rocks,"

**_Hoped you like the history lesson. For those of you who may have been a tad confused by some of the terms in the story (I did a lot of research for that just so you know), here's some definitions for you all!_**

**_Teleri – third clan of the Elves who came to Aman_**

**_Aman – a continent that lay to the west of Middle Earth across the great ocean Belegaer that was home to the Valar _**

**_Valar – the Powers of Arda who live in Aman, representations of gods_**

**_Sindar – elves of Telerin descent, also known as the Grey Elves_**

**_Beleriand – title given to Thingol, first proclaimed to him by emissaries of the Noldor_**

**_Noldor – second clan of the Elves_**

**_Maia – spirits which descended to Arda to help the Valar with the shaping of the World_**

**_Arda – also called Earth_**

**_Silmaril – gems crafted by Feanor, an Elf of the Noldor, from the essence of the Two Trees of Valinor_**

**_Morgoth – mightiest of the Ainur, and the same being who ruled over the Dark Lord Sauron_**

**_Ainur – a race of beings created by Eru Illuvatar before the beginning of the World_**

**_Eru Illuvatar – supreme deity of Arda _**

**_Nogrod – one of two Dwarven cities in the Blue Mountains_**

**_Valinor – realm of the Valar in Aman_**

**_Manwe – greatest of the Ainur as King of the Valar_**

**_Valimar – home of the Valar_**

**_I am pretty sure I got the facts right; the amount of research I did on the LOTR Wikia was intense :-)_**

**_Oh and by the way, I got the name 'Arvellon' from an Elf Name Generator (link below) and it means 'Royal Friend'_**

**_Once again I apologize for the rant at the beginning but I had to get it out there._**


	22. Riding in Barrels

_**So yeah, enjoy :-)**_

**Chapter 22: Riding in Barrels**

Thorin anxiously awaited the return of his Evelyn. She had been gone a little while and he was beginning to wish he had been a little bit more firm when that guard had come to fetch her. He didn't trust the elves one bit, especially that accursed elven king. His hands were clasped tightly together and his foot tapped the floor repeatedly in an impatient manner. If she wasn't back within five minutes, he would force that door open and go and look for her, mark his words.

He straightened up as he heard the sound of two sets of footsteps coming towards the dungeons. He watched intently and breathed a sigh of relief as Evelyn appeared, a red haired she-elf close behind. Before opening the cell, Evelyn turned to the she-elf and raised her wrists, which he noticed, with anger, were bound with thin rope. The she-elf complied and quickly untied the rope with skilled fingers. Opening the door, Evelyn walked inside and flopped down on the floor, arms crossed, glaring straight ahead as the cell door close and the she-elf walked away with the distinct air of someone who was wanting to put some serious distance between them.

"What-?" Thorin began to ask, but she cut him off. All he could do was stare at her, utterly bewildered as to why she was acting this way and his mouth slightly agape, as she went mad.

"The nerve of him!" She said angrily, standing up and beginning to pace, hands balled in fists. "The absolute nerve! How dare he think, even question… he's a _king _for the love of Mahal and he would dare… that just proves that you can be a king and still be an uncivilised little… he was an impolite, rude, _shirumund rukhsul_!" She spat the last two words with malice.

Thorin couldn't help but let out a small bark of laughter. Why she was so angry he did not know, but how she managed to work into her rant a couple of words in Khuzdul amused him greatly.

She stared at him, her face torn between annoyance and curiosity. "Why are you laughing?"

Before he knew it, he could barely speak for laughing. "You amuse me greatly!" He managed to splutter before doubling over. Evelyn took one bewildered glance at her before she too collapsed on the floor in hysterics, laughing for no reason whatsoever, her anger gone for now.

After they finally calmed down and composed themselves, they sat down together. As soon as Evelyn imagined the look on Arvellon's face as he tried to figure out why they were laughing, she submitted herself to a small fit of quiet giggling before recomposing herself.

"When you two have quite finished," A familiar voice spoke close by. They looked up and saw an impatient looking Bilbo standing there with a set of keys identical to the set that Arvellon carried hooked on his finger.

"Bilbo!" Evelyn greeted. "We'll explain later! Are we escaping now?"

"Well I wouldn't have stolen the keys otherwise," He said in a matter-of-fact tone as he quietly inserted the key into the lock and unlocked the door. As Thorin and Evelyn emerged, Bilbo unhooked a slightly larger bronze key from the metal ring it had been attached to.

"This is the key to the weapons room," Bilbo told Thorin as he gave it to him. "I heard your weapons are being kept there. I'll free the others while you go and get them,"

"One question. Where is this weapons room?" Thorin asked.

Bilbo pointed. "It's down at the end of the hallway, straight ahead,"

Thorin strode down the corridor, key in hand and Evelyn close behind, keeping watch for other guards. She hoped they wouldn't run into Arvellon, she didn't want to hurt him.

Thorin unlocked the door and stepped inside. True to Bilbo's word, all their weapons had been unceremoniously piled up in a corner. The rest of the walls were lined neatly with various weapons, one wall of swords, another of spears and the other with bows and quivers. They strode over to the pile and carefully scooped them up, halving the pile for each to carry. Evelyn strained under her own lot as had to carry Bofur's mattock, a heavy axe-like weapon. It was a wonder how the dwarf actually managed to carry that thing, let alone wield it.

As soon as the pair arrived in the same place they had been standing at a few moments ago, the rest of the company had been freed. They all stood in a group, waiting for their weapons to be given back to their rightful owners. Once the weapons had been distributed to the correct owners – this took some time as there were so many of the bloody things – Bilbo got their attention as best as he could, taking into consideration that they would need to be extra quiet and he wasn't so good around crowds.

"Come on, we must hurry! I managed to create a distraction for the guards, and the elves will be dumping the barrels soon!" Bilbo said urgently. Evelyn sighed inwardly. Arvellon was probably among the guards stuck in whatever distraction Bilbo had provided, and he would not come to harm at least. Deciding to make haste, the company followed the hobbit down the corridors. They weren't too keen to put their faith in the hobbit, but Bilbo had proven himself to be quite the cunning person so far, and had proven them wrong on a few occasions already.

True to Bilbo's words, empty barrels that had once housed sweet wine right up to the brims were stacked neatly on their sides on a single shelf, waiting to be distributed in the water. Immediately, they strode forward and quickly set about removing the barrels from the stacks and placing them right way up on the ground nearest to the stream. One barrel assigned to each company member, although that wasn't the case with Thorin, obviously.

He stepped gingerly into his own barrel, hoping it wouldn't unbalance and tip over, and beckoned for Evelyn to come over to him. "Get in,"

"Will I fit?" Evelyn asked, raising an eyebrow.

He raised an eyebrow in turn. "Even if you don't fit you're still coming with me,"

Evelyn let a cheeky smirk pass over her face. Before she could even take a step forward, she felt a pair of burly hands grip her waist and hoist her into the air, slotting her gently in the barrel, in Thorin's arms. Evelyn looked round and poked her tongue at Dwalin.

"Happy to be of service lass," He said, before stepping into his own barrel with ease, a smile crinkling his eyes.

Thorin slid down in the barrel until he was sitting upon the bottom of the barrel. Evelyn followed suit, and managed to find a half-comfortable position, resting her back against Thorin's chest. Someone else replaced the lid on the top of the barrel, and they were bathed in a dim darkness.

"We'll need to be quiet now," Thorin said in a hushed voice, breathing in her ear. "Don't want those elves to find us in here,"

Evelyn could only nod, as it was a 'speak-of-the-devil' moment. Next thing they knew, they had to keep their mouths shut as two elves tipped the barrels on their sides, no knowledge of the contents, and rolled them to the river, pushing them into the cool water with the air of someone glad to be rid of them. Thorin ended up on top of Evelyn as they rolled helplessly about in the barrel gently as it bobbed downstream, surely being closely pursued by the others. Evelyn's heart leapt into her mouth as they dropped down a small waterfall, and descended into sunlight. She had missed the sun so much after all the depressing time spent in Mirkwood as miniscule slivers of light peeking through minute gaps in the sides of the barrel.

As Thorin shuffled in an attempt to move off Evelyn, she was brought out of her daydream. "Oof, are you alright there?"

"Better now we're out of that place," Thorin said as he finally managed to extract himself from Evelyn and sit back, an incredible feat on its own.

"I would drink to that but this barrel is empty," Evelyn said jokingly. There was no laugh to follow, but she was rewarded with a chuckle. "Do you think we would be able to get the lid off of this thing?"

Thorin looked up, and he raised a hand and pushed upwards. The lid came off easily, and a small splash followed as it fell into the river. He clambered clumsily to his feet and peeked out of the top of the barrel. He looked down and smiled, and Evelyn took this as a sign that all was well. She had to use the material of Thorin's coat to hoist herself to her feet, as the precarious rocking of the barrel was not making her life any easier.

All around them, the rest of the company were standing up in their barrels, looking quite comical as they drifted down the river at a gentle pace. She was greeted with a few waves and cheerful grins, but she only had eyes for Bilbo. She caught his attention, and she called out to him.

"Bilbo! You are the cleverest hobbit I have ever met!" She called to him.

He was grinning from ear to ear, looking quite proud of himself. "Yes, I am, aren't I?" He then laughed, and he received similar compliments from the others. He deserved them after all.

Suddenly, they jerked forward as the river picked up its pace. "This can't be good," Evelyn said solemnly as she turned around slowly and peered over Thorin's shoulder. Ahead, she could see the river turning violent, rushing water waiting to sweep and toss them around like dolls.

"Er, you might want to hold on!" Evelyn called over her shoulder at the others. The warning very clear, they all grasped the sides of their barrels tightly, waiting for the inevitable rapids ahead.

It didn't take long for them to reach the rapids, as they picked up pace until they were sucked into the rushing water. It took half the time for them to become utterly drenched as they were tossed, shoved and rolled around like dolls. The water had gotten much colder, also, and that put everyone in bitter moods.

There must had been a lucky star following them, for it seemed that as soon as the rapids had begun, it was over, and the river panned out into a much more gentle body of water. Bedraggled and disgruntled, they all paddled straight for the nearest shore, to their right. As soon as the rims of the wooden barrels touched the bank, they scrambled out of them and dragged their water-logged bodies onto the shore.

"Never, ever, again," Evelyn gasped as she crawled onto the bank and, in an un-ladylike manner, she spat out a mouthful of water and coughed. An unfortunate turn of events had results in the barrel ejecting her into the water just before the rapids had ended and leaving her to swim the rest of the way to shore.

Thorin. who had managed to stay in the barrel, rushed over to her and heaved her to her feet, holding her to him. "Are you alright?" He asked as he pushed strands of her hair out of her face.

"Fine, apart from swallowing half the river," She spluttered between another heaving cough.

Thorin managed a relieved a chuckle before turning to the others. "We'll move into the trees and camp there,"

"What about all our things? Our bedrolls and such?" Ori asked as he tilted his head to the side slightly and slapped the palm of his hand against the other side of his head to unclog the water in his ear.

"We'll have to make do without them, unless you want to go back and fetch them for us," Thorin replied sarcastically. The whole trip had put him in a bitter mood. After a few grumbles from the others, they shuffled into the trees with the air of a company of people arriving at a funeral, and lay down immediately in their wet clothes, uncomfortable, cold, wet and very grim.

Evelyn's teeth chattered as she lay down and curled into a foetal position, shivering like a leaf. Thorin immediately lay down next to her and drew his arms around her, keeping her close. A small amount of warmth emitted from his body, and she craved that heat.

"T-t-th-thank you," She stuttered.

"Less talk, more getting warm," He told her.

* * *

"Your Majesty, I bring news of the dwarves," A messenger spoke, shuffling on his feet nervously. Why was he the one who had to be the bringer of bad news?

Thranduil sighed, and turned away from the rolls of parchment he had been studying; various drawings and text all signed by the same person, a dwarf named Ori, it seemed.

"Let us hear this bit of news. What have the dwarves managed to do now?" He asked as his eyes bore into that of the poor messengers. The elf wiped a hand over his brow, and cleared his throat.

"Er, well, you see… um, the dwarves…" The messenger couldn't find the right words to explain the situation without getting the king apocalyptically mad. When the elven king didn't say anything to prompt him to speak more clearly, the messenger took a deep breath and stated, "The dwarves have escaped,"

**_'shirumund rukhsul' translates roughly to 'beardless offspring of orc', just for something funny._**


	23. Lake Town

_**Enjoy!**_

**Chapter 23: Lake Town**

Evelyn was startled awake in the middle of the night by a shocking dream. Then another thing that startled her again was the absence of the dwarf who had been sleeping by her side not too long ago. She rubbed her neck, which had a terrible crick in it from the hard ground, and she sat up gingerly. She decided there and then that she would rather not ever sleep on the ground again.

She looked around. Everyone was asleep, Dori and Bombur were most definitely asleep as they appeared to be having very intense snoring competitions. She looked around further and spotted Thorin sitting on a rock nearby, his back to the company, keeping watch obviously.

"Thorin," She whispered as quietly as she could and as loud as she dared. The last thing she wanted to do was wake up a bunch of tired, sore dwarves and a hobbit developing a head-cold. She wouldn't put it past Dwalin to punch her lights out if she woke him. He would be twice as vicious as when he was battling Orcs.

He turned slowly at the sound of his name and spotted her. She beckoned for him to follow as she backed into the dense undergrowth behind her, stepping over Bofur carefully as she went. Intrigued and concerned at the same time, he stood up and, without managing to accidently step on someone, he followed her.

He found her a considerable distance away from the campsite. "Are you alright my sweet?" He asked her as he approached her.

She gave him a nervous smile. "I was dreaming about you before,"

He cocked his head slightly, curious. "And what was this dream you had of me about, if I may ask?"

She didn't say anything, but she stepped closer to him until they were practically touching, gently leaned forward and kissed him, her arms snaking around his neck to hold him to her.

He guessed her intentions from her actions, which had quickened in pace and urgency, and he made to pull away. "Evelyn… not here…" He groaned, trying to supress the desires that were building up inside him, hot and raging like dragon fire, pardoning the metaphor.

"Why not?" She breathed heavily, staring into his piercing eyes, her lips inches from his.

"Because you deserve somewhere nicer than a forest. Somewhere grand, comfortable, beautiful… this is not the place," He said.

She smiled nervously. "I need you Thorin," She whispered. "I don't care where I am, as long as I am with you,"

He moaned softly. That was all he needed to hear as his lips crashed down upon hers, and they became enveloped in the arms of passion and love.

* * *

Thorin watched as his Evelyn shivered as she replaced her damp and icy cold clothes, which had been previously scattered about the forest floor in the urgent bid to remove them earlier on. He had already half dressed – he was without a shirt currently – and he was yet to actually completely dress.

As soon as the last article of clothing was covering her fragile body – her jacket – he wandered over to her and his arms snaked around her waist. He stared down at her with such love and adoration.

"I love you," He whispered.

"As do I," She replied quietly, unable to take her eyes off of his.

They remained in a gentle embrace for some time, never taking their eyes off one another, until they finally decided to make their way quietly back to the camp and settle down and sleep. They were truly together now.

* * *

The prospect of having to rise at the crack of dawn and continue on their quest was made even more difficult than it already was by how they all felt. A couple of hours extra sleep had been granted for extreme lack of sleep over the past few days, but that did not mean that sore joints, throbbing bruises, headaches and head colds were out of the question. Bilbo was sneezing so often, everyone thought that the next time he sneezed his whole brain would come out of his nostrils.

"Lake Town is not far from here," Thorin said as he stood up and stretched his arms, making no inclination that he and Evelyn had snuck away in the dead of night. "I can only hope that the hospitality on offer this time does not entail dungeons," This half-hearted stab at humour had only raised a few gruff chuckles. It would have taken every jester that ever existed to cheer the company up, and Thorin was no comedian. Not even Evelyn could think of a joke to cheer them up.

"A soft bed and a bath is what I hope is there," Evelyn said as she rubbed her back, which had smacked against a rock during her tumble through the water. As she sat up, she pulled the damp collar of her jacket up higher to cover her neck, which was covered in bruises.

"You can say that again," Bofur grumbled as he cracked his neck and promptly sneezed.

Seeing as the majority of their possessions had been taken away and had been left behind, it didn't take very long for them to be up and on their way, the prospect of comfort and luxury available serving as a whole light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel metaphor. Their journey to Lake Town took them further into the forest, but at least this forest wasn't utterly pitch black and teeming with all manner of terrible creatures. As they passed the spot where Evelyn and Thorin had snuck away to, she restrained herself from smiling and she cast a sneaky glance at Thorin. He met the glance and a ghost of a smile appeared on his face.

"What are you smiling at Uncle?" Kili asked, noticing the change in facial expression.

Thorin turned to his nephew. "Never you mind," He then ruffled his hair, a fatherly gesture that made the young dwarf's heart leap. He grinned and turned to his brother to engage him in conversation.

As soon as the forest thinned out, they came across a bridge built over the biggest lake they had ever seen. It was there that they realised how Lake Town gained its name. It certainly lived up to its name, as the whole town was built on this lake. It seemed to appear to be like any other town, the only difference being that instead of dirt or cobblestone roads separating the houses, it was water. And so the only way to get to other houses without taking the plunge were to either take one of the many boats moored to the posts or take the precarious routes along the rickety bridges that clung to the houses and stretched across the water. It was to be assumed that the bridges had to be manually raised for passing boats.

Two guards standing at the bridge that allowed access to Lake Town approached the company, hands resting on the hilt of their weapons.

"Halt," The first guard said.

"State your name and purpose here," The second guard stated almost as soon as the first guard had finished speaking. They must have had practise in speaking this, judging by the way they had synchronized the phrases together.

Thorin stepped forward, emitting an aura of power similar to the one he had displayed during his first encounter with Thranduil. "I am Thorin Oakenshield, descendant to the throne of Erebor. I seek nothing but peace with your people and a morsel of your generous hospitality before continuing on with my quest,"

The guards exchanged amazed glances before, surprisingly, bowing quickly. "The Master of Lake Town believed you would come here! Please follow us. We will take you to the Master, and he will surely wish to tend to your needs," The first guard said, obviously very excited judging from the way he was bouncing on his feet. Bilbo sneezed again.

Amused, the company followed the two guards into Lake Town. Beckoning for them, the guards helped the company into three different boats. Evelyn stuck close to Thorin, clutching his hand tightly, as they sat down and coasted forward. Despite the more than warm welcome, this town was giving her the creeps. The air was slightly dismal. It seemed as if the people of Lake Town had never learned to laugh or even smile. However that assumption was quickly dismissed as the townspeople emerged from behind closed shutters and began to cheer and applaud, cheering for the return of Thorin Oakenshield.

After a while, they came across a large building. Nimbly stepping out of the boat, the first guard set about tying down the boats and waiting patiently for the company to step out of the boats and follow him and his companion. They were a lot more unbalanced than the guards, as they had accustomed themselves to the unsteady life on water.

As soon as the doors to this building open, they were greeted by cheering. News spread quickly it seemed. The company stepped forward, greeting the people with a few dazed waves. Thorin, however, only had eyes for the Man who called himself the Master of Lake Town.

"Welcome my friends!" The Man said, spreading his arms as if to embrace them. "And especially to you Thorin Oakenshield! It is an honour to have you here. I am Bard, Master of Lake Town, and this is my son… Bain, come on, stop being foolish and say hello," At these words, a young boy, eyes cast downwards , stepped out from his concealed position behind his father's back and muttered a quick greeting. He then quickly darted back behind his father, chewing his thumbnail nervously. The sudden appearance of fifteen strangers had unnerved him a bit it seemed.

"It is an honour to be here, Master Bard. We are grateful for the warm welcome," Thorin said as he stepped forward to shake his hand.

Evelyn had to admit – although she would never say it flat out – that Bard was rather handsome, in a rugged way, with long dark hair and calm eyes.

Bard's eyes, as if by some strange coincidence, fell upon her as Thorin stepped back. "In all my years, I never expected a woman to join a quest!"

Evelyn knew he meant her no offense by this, and she smiled. "Looks can be deceiving sometimes,"

Bard laughed. "I am sure they can be! Tell me, what is your name?"

"I am called Evelyn Lieflin," She said as she took Bard's hand and shook it gently.

"Evie?" A voice suddenly sounded out.

It was like time had stopped altogether as the girl froze and the smile faded away from her face. Her hand gently and slowly slid out of Bard's gentle grip and fell limply to her side.

Memories of a childhood she had reminisced about every now and then came back to her in a tidal wave. Only one person she ever knew had called her by that name. Her mother had never called her that. It was her full name or nothing else.

Only one person knew she even had a nickname. But it couldn't be… wouldn't be…

Evelyn turned around slowly. A considerable gap in the silent crowd had been created for a single Man. Her eyes widened, and her mouth fell agape slightly. She had not seen this person in many, many years. Much had changed about him, but she still recognized the blue eyes she had inherited amongst the straggly chocolate brown hair with many strands of grey through it and the slightly withered and thin face covered in thin stubble.

Roranth Lieflin, husband to Ella Hayward and father to Evelyn Lieflin, stood before her.

_**OK two things:**_

_**1) I'm not too comfortable about smut, but if you guys REALLY want me to, I can write the smut scene that occurred and make a new story with it or something so I don't need to change the rating on my story**_

_**2) Cliffhangers! Gotta love them. I've been dying to get this chapter uploaded!**_


	24. Reunion

**_PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THE FINER DETAILS OF EVELYN'S LIFE:_**

**_I did some rough calculations, and I have decided that for the purpose of this story, Evelyn is around 47 years old, which is reasonable because hobbits don't age like humans do. Thorin was 195 years old before his death at the Battle of the Five Armies, but that is like being almost middle aged in human years, I think._**

**_As far as her life goes, I have decided – and once again I hope my calculations are accurate – that her mother was 60 years old when Evelyn was born, and Evelyn's father left when Evelyn was 23 years old and Evelyn's mother was 83 years old, and her mother then died seven years later at the age of 90 years old (as mentioned in the first chapter). Evelyn lived on her own for 17 years before Thorin and Company showed up. _**

**_Therefore Bilbo is older than Evelyn by 3 years – being 50 years old during the course of _****The Hobbit, ****_which works out perfectly as I was hoping that for the purpose of this story, Bilbo and Evelyn would not have a huge age gap._**

**_I hope my calculations are correct._**

**_Also, the battle in Lake Town is an idea of mine, and it did not take part at all._**

**Chapter 24: Reunion**

"Evie?" Roranth Lieflin said again with a hoarse and disbelieving voice. His voice hadn't changed either, if it had not become a bit huskier. "Is that…?"

Evelyn did not reply. She didn't even make one noise. She was too occupied with taking in the appearance of the person she longed believed to be dead.

The day he had left The Shire, she remembered him as a proud warrior. But all of that had gone. Gone was the brave fighter who had taught her how to fight and how to stay upright in the saddle of a horse. Here before her was a tired old man leaning on a wooden crutch because of the absence of half of his right leg.

"Father…?" Evelyn said with difficulty. Words weren't coming easily to her. She was finding breathing a bit hard right now, and everything seemed a bit dizzy to her. If she didn't start taking deep , slow breaths, she might faint.

Even from where she was standing, she could see the tears that were beginning to form at the corners of his crinkled eyes. "It's me, my darling. It really is," He said gently.

Despite the moment that should have been filled with tearful embraces, it was beginning to turn sour right now. "How in Durin's name is this even… I mean, I thought you were, that you weren't…" Evelyn was most definitely finding words difficult.

"What do you mean?" Roranth said, a confused frown bringing his eyebrows together.

Tears began to blur her eyes as well. Before she knew it, she was yelling. The words were back. "I thought you were dead Father! I sent you hundreds of letters every year! You never replied to most of them! I honestly thought you were dead! Mother hoped you would come back some day, but you didn't even bother to show your face when she was lying on her death bed!"

"Evie, I don't-" Roranth began to say, but she wasn't having any of it.

"No, you don't get to speak!" Evelyn cried, storming forward until she was only a few metres away from her father. She prodded his chest with her finger sharply. "How could you?! After all these years, I thought you dead, and yet here you are!"

"I know it's hard, but if you'll just let me explain-" Roranth pressed gently.

Evelyn almost screamed with rage. Thorin could only watch, but he knew what she was going to do. Just like she had done back in Rivendell, she punched him square in the jaw. The punch affected him mentally rather than physically, and he clutched his jaw, looking horrified, scared and miserable at the same time.

"YOU SELFISH BASTARD! HOW COULD YOU?!" She shoved past him and stormed out of the door, leaving her tearful father standing there, all eyes on him.

Evelyn had stormed away across the walkways for some time until she felt she could go no further without getting hopelessly lost. She merely sank to the ground and sat down on the edge of the bridges, removing her boots in the process and allowing her feet to dangle in the cold water. Tears of fury and grief slid down her rosy cheeks.

_This can't be. After all these years… he could have been dead, and yet here he is as if everything is alright, _Evelyn thought to herself. Life has just taken a very big and tight turn. Whether it was for the better or worse, she wasn't so sure yet.

Evelyn heard the sound of footsteps, but it was more the sound of a footstep and a muffled thump straight after. She didn't look up or register the person's appearance as her father sat down next to her. He didn't say anything, perhaps he was waiting for her.

Evelyn stared out at the lake before her in silence for a while.

"I am truly so-" Her father began to say.

"25 years," She interrupted.

"Pardon?" Her father said.

There was a small pause. "I believed you dead for 25 years," She looked at him finally. "Then after Mother died I lived believing I had no family, and yet here you are,"

"I know it was a long time, but if you'll let me explain…?" Roranth said hesitantly, keeping his voice low and calm.

"I'm listening," Evelyn said, her voice cold.

The old man took a deep breath before speaking. "The day I left, I wanted to come back. I missed you both so much. I wrote to you as often as I could, but then something unexpected happened. A letter came to me from the Master of Lake Town, pleading me to convince my superiors to come to their aid, as the goblins had invaded. I knew that this was my chance to finally go to battle and prove my skills. I went to my commander and showed him the letter."  
"But after a long time spent counselling with the others, the officers refused to go to their aid, simply because they believed that they had no claim over any rewards, and decided that it was not their place to involve themselves. I called them selfish and cold-hearted. I discharged myself from the camp and I went to the aid of the townspeople."  
"When I finally got there, I didn't think I had ever seen such horror. Hundreds of the dead littered the ground. There was blood everywhere. So much blood… the lake had turned foul, mixed with goblin blood and the blood of the men,"  
"I was fighting, and the next thing I knew. I had let my guard down for an instant to help someone, and my leg was gone. I was ready to die. But I didn't. I greeted Death, and he did not come. Bard had jumped between me and that goblin's sword, and killed it. He had saved me, and I was indebted to him."  
"The battle was won not long after. Reinforcements arrived to save our asses. The next thing I knew, I was lying in a healer's tent, my leg missing. I refused the majority of the treatment, there were other with injuries ten times worse than mine."  
"My injury meant that travelling was out of the question. I was no longer the warrior I used to be. I was just a tired old man with a missing leg,"

Silence followed. It was thick, and uneasy. "But you didn't lose your hands. You could have wrote to me. It would have meant the world to Mother to hear from you, know you were alright. I was with her when she lay on her deathbed, but she still died lonely," Evelyn said, trying so hard to keep the accusing tone out of her voice.

Roranth looked at her with sad eyes. It broke her heart to see him this way. "My pride had been hurt beyond anything I could have comprehended. I was afraid that I would be branded a coward or a fool if I wrote and told you what happened. I was ashamed of disappointing you,"

The young girl stared ahead, not quite willing to look at him again just yet. She wasn't so sure she felt ready to forgive her father just yet. She wasn't even sure if she was ready to accept the fact that she even had one.

_**By the way, I've read your reviews and I may write a smut scene. If I do, it should be posted as a separate story in the next few days.**_

_**Also, I went back to Chapter 9 and made a couple of changes as I wasn't all that happy with it.**_


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